A Conversation with Solveig Eggerz, Author of the Novel Seal Woman

The complete transcript is now available of my podcast conversation with Solveig Eggerz about Seal Woman, her vividly poetic historical novel of Iceland. I highly recommend her novel, and am heartened to see that since our conversation, Seal Woman has been reissued in a handsome new edition from Unbridled Books.

A couple of quotes from the conversation:

"Iceland is really just the setting. For me, there's this particular phenomenon that's going on and it could have occurred anywhere, really. It's the notion of carrying within you everything that has happened to you in the past, and bringing it into a new environment, and then having to deal with your daily life while being haunted by everything that you're carrying around inside of you. Now, since publishing this here and doing a lot of book talks here in this country, I have sort of learned what the story is about in psychological terms because people have told me that they, too, have experienced this notion of carrying something around inside you. I have people telling me how they carry Iowa inside themselves all their lives, even though they never were in Iowa, but their mothers were."

"[W]riting a novel is way more important than publishing a novel. [Laughs] I'm working on a third novel now and just solving the riddle of how these characters interact and how this is all going to work out, that is my big task. Publishing?... I don't think people should be writing with publishing in mind. If you only have publishing in mind, then you're going to be losing a lot of the experience of really producing something that you are happy with yourself. The gap between these two is huge." 

> You can also listen in anytime to the podcast of this conversation here. 

> More podcasts and transcripts from my Conversations with Other Writers are here. The latest in this occasional series is my conversation with historian M.M. McAllen about her magnifcent narrative history of 1860s Mexico, Maximilian and Carlota. A transcript of that podcast will be available shortly. Other podcasts in this series include conversations with Rose Mary Salum, Sergio Troncoso, Sara Mansfield Taber, Michael K. Schuessler, and Edward Swift.

Meanwhile, I am working on podcast #21 in the projected 24 podcast series, Marfa Mondays, exploring Marfa, Texas and environs, which is apropos of my book in-progress about the Trans-Pecos. Listen in to any one or all of those 20 "Marfa Mondays" podcasts here. 

P.S. My every-other-monthly-ish newsletter with updates on podcasts, publications and upcoming workshops is going out to subscribers soon. I welcome you to sign up here. It's an automatic opt-in /opt-out anytime via mailchimp.com, and yes, it is free.


> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

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Q & A with Independent Publisher Michele Orwin,

Founding Editor of Bacon Press Books

Edward Swift Interview: 

The Big Thicket, New York, the Orphic Journey, 

San Miguel de Allende, the Sierra Gorda & More

Podcasting for Writers:

To Commit or Not (or Vaguely?)

CLICK HERE.

Conversation with Other Writers Podcast: Solveig Eggerz on Seal Woman

Just posted, a new podcast of an interview with my amiga, the amazing writer Solveig Eggerz, about her poetic novel, Seal Woman-- and Iceland, writing, publishing, facebook, and more.

Listen in on podomatic or, listen in on iTunes.

Here's the official description:

As part of the new series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Solveig Eggerz, author of the fiercely poetic novel Seal Woman. Inspired by the Icelandic fairytale of the seal woman and the true story of some 300 German war widows brought to Iceland to marry and work on the remote farms, Seal Woman has been widely praised and translated into both Hebrew and Icelandic. The conversation ranges from the author's unusual background (from Iceland to England to Germany to Alexandria, Virginia), Iceland's book culture, fairytales, advice for writers, and more. Visit Solveig Eggerz at www.solveigeggerz.com

P.S. Read Solveig Eggerz's guest-blog, 5 works of historical fiction.

(Next winter I'll be starting up the Marfa Mondays series and some of those podcasts will be cross-listed with "Conversations with Other Writers.")

Solveig Eggerz at the Kensington Row Bookshop Reading Series Feb 5

If you're in the Washington DC area, don't miss this: Solveig Eggerz will be reading from her novel of Iceland, Seal Woman, at the Kensington Row Bookshop (3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington MD) on Feb 5th @ 7:30 pm

P.S. Check out her guest-blog post for Madam Mayo, 5 Works of Historical Fiction. More anon.

Guest-blogger Solveig Eggerz on 5 Works of Historical Fiction

As a writer of historical fiction myself, when I got the announcement that my fellow American Independent Writer Association member, Solveig Eggerz, was to give a "pubspeak" on history and fiction, I was intrigued. And when I mosied on over to her website, http://www.solveigeggherz.com, I was fascinated. The author of the just-released novel, Seal Woman, set in World War II-era Iceland, Solveig Eggerz is a native Icelander with some impressive literary roots. In her own words:

"My great-great grandfather, Friðrik Eggerz, a farmer and a protestant minister, wrote his autobiography when he was in his eighties, a book that documented 19th century Icelandic regional history; my grandfather, Sigurður Eggerz, twice prime minister, wrote plays and essays. My father, Pétur Eggerz, a foreign service officer, wrote fiction and non-fiction until the day he died at age 80."

I'm about to delve into Seal Woman, which is sure to be good, for none other than Margot Livesey has lauded it as "rich in vivid detail and psychological understanding" and a "beautiful and suspenseful debut." I was out of town for her "pubspeak," alas, so I asked her to share with me--- and you--- some of her thoughts about writing historical fiction. With my warmest thanks, over to you, Solveig!

In reading fiction, I like two different ways of examining the past. One focuses on how the past can pervade the present. Charlotte in my novel, Seal Woman, carries the past within her heart to the point where it guides actions in the present. The other approach involves capturing the essence of the past—but without sacrificing the characters to the details of history.

Two examples of the past pervading the present: A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee presents a character who leads a routine life in a California suburb, but his imagination pulsates with violent memories from World War II in Korea, edged by his own culpability.

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa brings two time periods together, 1961, the year of the assassination of the brutal dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, and 1996, the year when a fictional character, a Trujillo victim wreaks revenge on the tyrant. Vargas brings the timelines ever closer until they finally collide, laying bare the unsavory truth.

How did capturing and shackling humans in Africa corrupt the character of the crew members on an 18th century slave ship? Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth offers the bitter lesson: “it could have been me” from several points of view.

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky both describe German-occupied France in World War II, especially its deadly impact on foreign-born Jews. The difference lies in the author’s proximity to the events. Faulks describes the occupation and the resistance from the hindsight of the present. Nemirovsky records events as they are occurring, ceasing only when the French police knock on her door July 13, 1942. She dies August 17, 1942 in Auschwitz.


---Solveig Eggerz

P.S. Here's a link to a recent interview with her about Iceland and the novel.

--->For the archive of Madam Mayo guest-blog posts, click here.

Combining History and Fiction: Eggerz PubSpeak in DC

One of the things I love about Washington Independent Writers is the Pubspeak series. This next one, on Thursday July 17, looks especially fascinating:

Combining History and Fiction:
Is it a Genre or a Sneaky Means for Imposing History on Readers? Your novel’s set in a particular time. Is it historical fiction? Solveig Eggerz, author of the novel Seal Woman, discusses this vaguely defined genre, exploring the importance of authenticity, research, and the relationship between historic timelines and the personal timelines of characters.

Seal Woman is set against the backdrop of Germany, Iceland, and Poland, 1930-1959. The main character, Charlotte, escapes bombed-out Berlin to work on a farm in Iceland. She’s part of the 1940s migration of some 300 Germans, most of them women, to Icelandic farms.

Read about the event at www.washwriter.org