Five months pregnant, fearful of the future, and creatively blocked, JoAnna Novak becomes obsessed with the life, writings, and paintings of Agnes Martin. She fashions a three-week intensive writing regimen in northern New Mexico, where Martin lived and painted (and where Novak writes this book we discuss today). The structure of this retreat is inspired by Martin’s 6×6 gridded abstract paintings that so appealingly keep out the clutter of life, and by Martin’s life philosophy—her notions of “positive freedom” and her pursuit of inner perfection. Because of this, today’s conversation becomes a dual exploration of both Novak’s own artistic journey and that of Martin’s. In addition, we look at the various ways Novak uses constraints and experimental techniques as part of her writing practice, about the different ways she has portrayed pregnancy in her poetry versus her prose, about writing into the unspoken stigma of prenatal depression, and much more.
For the bonus audio archive JoAnna contributes a reading of the children’s picture book Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, written some sixty years ago by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, and loved by JoAnna’s now four-year-old son. The bonus audio archive is only one potential benefit of joining the Between the Covers community as a listener-supporter. You can find out about all the potential rewards and benefits of doing so at the show’s Patreon page.
And here is the link to today’s Bookshop.
The post JoAnna Novak : Contradiction Days appeared first on Tin House.
Lucy Ives : Life Is Everywhere
Crafting with Ursula: Neil Gaiman on Word Magic & The Power of Telling Stories
Sawako Nakayasu : Pink Waves
Ama Codjoe : Bluest Nude
Crafting with Ursula : Gabrielle Bellot on The Power of Names & Naming
Hélène Cixous : Well-Kept Ruins
Billy-Ray Belcourt : A Minor Chorus
Crafting with Ursula : Maria Dahvana Headley on Feminist Translation & Classical Retellings
Dionne Brand : Nomenclature — New and Collected Poems
Elaine Castillo : How to Read Now
Crafting with Ursula : Lidia Yuknavitch on The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction
Claire Schwartz : Civil Service
Morgan Talty : Night of the Living Rez
Crafting with Ursula : Julie Phillips on the Writing Mother
Daniel Mendelsohn : Three Rings — A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate
Vauhini Vara : The Immortal King Rao
Crafting with Ursula : William Alexander on Writing for Children
Hernan Diaz : Trust
Rae Armantrout : Finalists
Crafting with Ursula : Kim Stanley Robinson on Ambiguous Utopias
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Great Expectations
Pride and Prejudice
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends