|
Meet the Rosemont Writer’s Retreat
Faculty
By Carla Spataro
Philadelphia Stories is proud to announce
its participation in the first annual Rosemont Writer’s Retreat.
This intensive weeklong workshop promises to be an inspiring event
for writer’s of all
levels.
We thought that it might be fun to ask this year’s faculty
a few questions. Usually, interviewers ask authors about craft and process,
and that’s all very interesting, but we decided to borrow a few
of those now infamous questions from James Lipton and Bernard Pivot (all
inspired by Marcel Proust).
Below is a sampling of the responses we received
from our faculty (see complete biographies on www.rosemont.edu).
 Tom Coyne, Creative Non-Fiction
Who is your favorite fictional character?
Godot. Just in case
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Philanthropist. Or middle-reliever for the Phillies--work
a few hours a week, get great seats.
Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
Mike Nutter. I love
this guy! This city has somehow
survived without proper leadership, imagine what's possible now.
What is your favorite virtue?
Sticktoitiveness. Straight from
the New Millenium Webster. That
word should be a choice on the SAT, and anyone who picks
it shouldn't be allowed to go to college.
 Elizabeth Abrams-Morley , Poetry
Who are your favorite fictional characters?
I
always liked the brave girls, the feisty women who bend rules--Shaw's
Eliza Doolittle, Alcott's Jo March. I'm still attracted to those characters
in contemporary fiction. My first favorite character ever was Charlotte
from Charlotte's Web. She's still a hero of mine, considering the way
White describes her as a "true
friend and a good writer."
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I've
been a family therapist, a mom, a caretaker to elderly relatives and
am now a writer and teacher. If I'd been any good at science, I would
have loved to be a vet or an oceanographer, or maybe a National Parks
ranger.
 Gregory
Frost, Fiction
Who is your favorite fictional character(s)?
In no particular order (but
you will see the pattern, I'm sure): John Dortmunder from Donald Westlake's
long-running series of "Dortmunder" novels
(The Hot Rock, et al); Yossarian from Catch-22; Nick and
Nora Charles, from The Thin Man; Odysseus, from The Odyssey;
Lyra Belacqua, from The Golden Compass and, currently, Leodora
from my novel Shadowbridge (but I tend to fall in love with my
female protagonists).
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I would
like to write and maybe illustrate comic books. That's what I wanted
to do growing up, anyway. Scuba diving (I have the license,
just never the opportunity), but I'm not sure that's a profession unless
you're Lloyd Bridges. Lighthouse keeper. Forest Ranger (but
only if I get to live in one of those way high towers).
Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
Larry Craig on the $3 dollar
bill; Rush Limbaugh on a 500-pound note.
What are your favorite virtues?
Are we talking about a virtue I possess? If so, I fear I lean much more
toward Mordred as he sings in Camelot: "Those seven deadly
virtues, those ghastly little traps, oh no, my liege, they were not meant
for me..." If I'm supposed to pick from the seven listed in
the Psychomachia, I would select diligence, because I think no writer
can get anywhere without it. Diligence is the succinct way of saying, "Butt
in chair." I would like to develop the virtue of patience, but I
fear the sand is running the other way on that one as I get older.
 Janice Wilson Stridick , Yoga
Who are your favorite fictional characters?
Recently,
my favorite fictional character was Jamila in Hanif Kureishi’s Buddha
of Suburbia, though past faves have included a wide range from
Stuart Little to Scout (Harper Lee’s) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ amazing Úrsula
Iguarán from 100 Years of Solitude.
What is your favorite virtue?
My favorite virtue is grace, in all of its many meanings.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
If not
a writer, I’d be a painter.
Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
Hillary on the banknote.
 Anne Kaier, Poetry
Who is your favorite fictional character(s)?
I like children in fiction,
such as Pearl, the wild child in The
Scarlet Letter and Maggie Tulliver in George Eliot's The Mill on the
Floss. When she's a child, Maggie drives nails into the torso of her
doll, called Fetish, any time she something goes badly wrong in her young
life.
Who would you like to see on
a new banknote?
Elvis
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Actually,
I really love this one. I spent years in corporate life,
so I know how lucky I am to be a teacher.
What is your favorite virtue?
I'm partial to the Seven Deadly Sins, actually,
though I don't have much chance to practice them. Selfishness can be
a virtue, too, especially for creative people. Witness the great artist Lucian Freud, whose
etchings (yes) I just saw at MoMA. He says this work is based on
sensuality and selfishness. He has many children by many women and yet
lives for his art, not his families. If I had to pick a real virtue,
I'd choose compassion.
 Charles
Holdefer , Fiction
Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
A moose, a grizzly, the Brooklyn or Golden Gate Bridge--something suggesting
purple mountains' majesty or the Golden Door and all that. Enough presidents
and statesmen already.
What profession other than your own would you like
to attempt?
I think it would be fun to run a bookstore which stocked only
books I'd read and liked and could personally recommend.
What is your favorite virtue?
Moments when somebody realizes that being
right isn't enough, and then acts on it.
 Catherine Stine , Young Adult Fiction
Who is your favorite fictional character(s)?
Bone, the working class
boy, who finds redemption through a very unlikely Rasta burnout in Rule
of the Bone by Russell Banks is one of the
most unadulterated YA/crossover voices I've read.
Who would you like to see on
a new banknote?
The Mad Hatter, one
of the most charismatic children's book characters, with his top hat
and monocle, would be perfect on a banknote. He is emblematic of the
fast pace of Wonderland, and America with his "I'm late,
I'm late, for a very important date!"
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I am
a painter as well as a writer so I rue the lack of time for both. But
I often think it would have been fascinating to be an analyst, for isn't
that what writers do best anyway? Observe and analyze deep yet flawed
characters.
What is your favorite virtue?
Inspired vision is my favorite virtue.
You can have all the experience and expertise in the world, but if you
don't have vision, it counts for little.
 Margie Strosser, Screenwriting
Who is your favorite fictional character?
Tony
Soprano because he is so far from knowing himself and so powerful.
Who would you like to see on
a new banknote?
Martin McDonough
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Acting,
midwifery, interior decorating.
What is your favorite virtue?
The theological
virtues -- love, hope, faith.
Liz Corcoran , Fiction
Who are your favorite fictional characters?
Lately,
I've been smitten with Francis Abernathy from Donna Tartt's The Secret
History and I've had an ongoing obsession with Severus Snape from Harry
Potter. But if I had to pick a favorite, it would
be Charles Carter from Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold. He's this
amazingly sympathetic combination of deep insecurity and absolute bravado. And
it doesn't hurt that I have a magician fetish....which reminds me, I
quite like the sock monkey narrator in Penn Jilette's Sock, as well.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I would very much love to be a pastry chef. Unfortunately,
I don't have a precise bone in my body and I have a suspicion that all
of my cakes would fail to rise or rise too much or taste like salt because
I can't be bothered with keeping track of things like tbsps and tsps
and whatnot. I've also always wanted to work outdoors with flowers.
Then again, I wouldn't pass up being a rock star either.
Who would you like to
see on a new banknote?
Revolutionary War
General Nathanael Greene. He's been one
of my heroes since I was in the fifth grade. I have always admired
how he went against his Quaker upbringing to join the Continental Army
and it was an early lesson for me on the importance of being your own
person and standing up for what you believe in. He didn't actually
win any battles for the Americans, but his guerilla tactics against the
Redcoats contributed to our ultimate victory a lot more than he gets
credit for.
What is your favorite
virtue?
I had to listen to Roddy MacDowell
singing "The
Seven Deadly Virtues" from Camelot just to remember what they were! I
think it's a tie between Courage and Diligence -- Two things
that are essential to building a successful, and fulfilling, career as
a writer.
 Curtis Smith
Who is your favorite fictional character?
George
Bailey.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Landscaper
Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
Ida Tarbell
What is your favorite virtue?
A long memory.
 Elise Juska
Who is your favorite fictional character?
Quoyle
in Annie Proulx's The Shipping News.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Flutist and/or Jeopardy! Clue writer.
What is your favorite virtue?
Compassion
Carla Spataro is the fiction editor/co-publisher
of Philadelphia Stories
and the program director of the Rosemont Writers' Retreat. For more
information about the retreat, or to register online, please visit
www.rosemont.edu/writers or email rwr@rosemont.edu.
|
