Going Home

The Novel Ladies Book Club talks with authors Erica Spindler and Lee Smith

October is National Book Club Month. Book clubs are thriving at Russell Memorial Library and at several other Chesapeake area libraries. Everything from hot topics to romance and science fiction to "ethical dilemmas" are up for discussion as men and women, book lovers all, gather to discuss a book or an author. Growing up, I never would have thought that sitting around with a bunch of other folks talking about a book would be fun - but it is!

In October, Russell Memorial Library's Novel Ladies Book Club discussed Erica Spindler's newest suspense novel "Blood Vines" with the author and truly enjoyed getting acquainted with her and listening to her talk about writing. Especially interesting was her story about going through Hurricane Katrina and how that experience affected her writing. She had just completed "Killer Takes All" which was set in New Orleans; then Katrina hit and immediately her novel became, in her opinion, "out of date." As she and her family tried to come home again to their house and business, she noticed other New Orleans residents struggling with the fact that home was not like it had been just days before. For some there was no home left at all. Ms. Spindler noticed all of the abandoned, smelly refrigerators and learned that as many as 30,000 of them occupied "refrigerator cemeteries" until the hazardous material could be removed from them. That piqued her imagination and the outcome was a new novel "The Last Known Victim" set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Earlier this fall, the Novel Ladies chatted with well-known novelist Lee Smith about two of her books, "The Last Girls" and "Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-eyed Stranger." What a charming person this author is! At the conclusion of their conversation with her, the Novel Ladies felt as if they had been talking with an old friend, just catching up on life.

Ms. Smith spent her childhood in Grundy, Virginia, a small town nestled in the Appalachian mountains. The group enjoyed the special treat of chatting with the author by telephone. And what a treat it was! Totally charming and down-to-earth, Lee Smith answered questions with candor, sprinkled with generous amounts of humor, all delivered in the honeyed Southern drawl she swears she no longer has.

If you've read "The Last Girls," you know the author included poetry within the story. The Novel Ladies wondered why. Below is an excerpt from their conversation:

Q: Why did you include poetry in your novel "The Last Girls," and are you especially interested in poetry?

A: It was a complete surprise to me. Although I have taught poetry, I confess I am daunted by the form. Every word has to work. I write my stories by hand on a legal pad. Well, I was sitting in the sun with my legal pad and pen and started writing a poem, and I realized it was Baby (one of the main characters of "The Last Girls") speaking. Poetry was a way to get Baby's voice heard - especially since Baby was dead. I wrote some 60 poems from her sensibility.

Q: How do you write?

A: I do a whole lot of pre-writing, making notes with details. Typically, I use one legal sheet for each character, and I get to know them really, really well. I know what they think, fear, love, what motivates them, and how they would spend their time. The result is a lot of material and fewer re-writes since I start off with lots of details. As my friend, and fellow Hollins College graduate, Annie Dillard says, "Before you can make a dress, you've got to get your yard goods."

Lee Smith talked about her childhood in Grundy, describing times when she and her friends couldn't wait to get out of town, to "Go off and get some culture." She remembers her father's dime store where she would listen intently to the customers and their stories. She remembers her mother working as a school teacher and listening to family stories. She talked about going to the movies - often westerns which were changed once a week - and how they influenced her very first attempt at writing when she was a child. Her words painted a vivid picture of Grundy as it once had been. Memories. Lee Smith remembers Grundy.

If you Google Grundy, Virginia, you will discover that it is undergoing major, major changes. Much of the town is being relocated to higher ground due to problems associated with nine devastating floods in that area, 1929 through the present. Some businesses never re-opened. The project, started in 2001, included blasting the mountain, putting in utilities and new bridges, and planning a new "downtown." I'm guessing another dime store like the author's father owned is not in the plan.

At the October 7 University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award ceremony Lee Smith received UNC's 2010 Thomas Wolfe Prize and will deliver the annual Thomas Wolfe Lecture. She confided in the telephone conversation that she was in a quandary about what to say. Knowing that Thomas Wolfe wrote "You Can't Go Home Again" and thinking about her hometown of Grundy, Ms. Smith's remarks for the lecture should have come easily. Going home is not always easy, and sometimes it is not possible at all except in our hearts and in our treasured memories.

So it seems that poetry and prose live side by side in happy combination. "The Last Girls" proves that. Another proof is Poetry, Prose, and Pizza Open Mic Night. Be sure to come!

POETRY HAPPENINGS:

Host Nathan Richardson with Russell Memorial Library Manager Clyde Hunter

Some of the Poetry, Prose, and Pizza Open Mic Night performers

• Photos above were taken at Poetry, Prose, and Pizza Open Mic Night - Friday, October 15. The next Poetry, Prose, and Pizza Open Mic Night will be held on Friday, January 7, 2011, at 7:00 PM at Russell Memorial Library, 2808 Taylor Road, Chesapeake, VA 23321 This is your chance to step up to the microphone and share your work. You don't need a reservation; just come! Host Nathan Richardson will introduce you and the audience will welcome you as you share your poetry and/or prose. Thanks to Mr. Gayle Mayo of Rita's Pizza, there will be pizza as a special bonus for the evening. For more information, call 757-410-7016.



• Pick up a copy of poet Jon Pineda's autobiography "Sleep in Me." This is a good introduction to Jon Pineda, the person who became a poet. Even Jon's prose has a poetic ring to it.





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  The new Poet Laureate of the United States is Kay Ryan. For more information about her and the poets who preceeded her, visit http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html

"The Niagara River" by Kay Ryan

As though

the river were

a floor, we position

our table and chairs

upon it, eat, and

have conversation.

As it moves along,

we notice - as

calmly as though

dining room paintings

were being replaced -

the changing scenes

along the shore. We

do know, Niagara River, but

it is hard to remember

what that means.