Really enjoyed the digressions on practicalities and poetics in the scavenging & repurposing & mosaicking & unpredictable alchemies with pieces that flow across different forms/genres/trajectories and all the connecting nodes that develop when you decide to push things further or a kind of readerly gravity pulls them into conjunctions. Especially the spoken words and aural landscapes, the journo origins, familial archeology and pop culture crocheting.
Loved reading this Beth - and I love that your book is so idiosyncratic and personal and what you say about how private & public memory can play together. For my PhD I looked at gaps & bricolage in life writing, identity construction through cultural objects- and I wish I’d known about Fibs then! My memoir is all bits & pieces and gen X reflection … about twice a year I get the energy to try & flog it - yours gives me hope! Hope yr health stuff calms down and your next book is coming along.
Thanks for reading it, Simmone! Bricolage is such an apt word. The gaps and juxtapositions are where the energy is. And the objects. Keep flogging your manuscript (or gently offering it perhaps, flogging sounds kind of painful). But it is really hard at the moment for books that aren't likely to make anyone money, and publishing with small presses can take a lot of work. But these more unusual books feed and nourish the whole writing community. They certainly have fed and nourished me over the years. So it is worth persevering and keep looking for that small crack in the system to be able to sneak your bricolage memoir out into the world in book form.
What a delightfully thoughtful and thought-provoking interview! Thanks, Beth. There are so many topics in your interview which could lead to lively discussions between writers and readers. Your Mum's reaction to your swearing was classic. Some of us feel that our memory/point of view is the only truth. It reminded me, for a different reason, of the time in high school, when all I needed to get out of the house and catch the bus, was one HB pencil. No-one in the family understood how important it was. My pleas were being ignored. I had to have the pencil and the bus was due. So, I stood in the hallway and screamed - something I'd never done before. I screamed 'bloody, bloody, bloody.' Mum and my sister (who I knew was the real culprit whenever I had a missing pencil/pen) suddenly appeared. My sister kindly offered her pencil - which in truth was my pencil - and all was well. I managed to catch the bus and had my HB pencil for Drafting that day. I also love your the talk about identity and the importance of different types of families e.g. friend families. And, I love the way you touch on how our own family relationships can change over time. This interview stirred so many memories. Thank you, Beth.
Thank you so much for listening, Caroline Anne. So glad it stirred memories and thoughts. That HB pencil (like King Richard III's horse?) will live forever. And yes, families are multiple, shifting, dynamic entities.
Really enjoyed the digressions on practicalities and poetics in the scavenging & repurposing & mosaicking & unpredictable alchemies with pieces that flow across different forms/genres/trajectories and all the connecting nodes that develop when you decide to push things further or a kind of readerly gravity pulls them into conjunctions. Especially the spoken words and aural landscapes, the journo origins, familial archeology and pop culture crocheting.
Keep on making, bricoluer!
'readerly gravity' and 'pop culture crocheting' - love all this so much. Thank you for listening. Hope the latte and biscotti added to the bricolage!
They sure did!
I'm saving this deepdive convo for when I can latte & biscotti & focus.
Oh that sounds lovely. It feels like I’ll be there with you in a Melbourne cafe.
Loved reading this Beth - and I love that your book is so idiosyncratic and personal and what you say about how private & public memory can play together. For my PhD I looked at gaps & bricolage in life writing, identity construction through cultural objects- and I wish I’d known about Fibs then! My memoir is all bits & pieces and gen X reflection … about twice a year I get the energy to try & flog it - yours gives me hope! Hope yr health stuff calms down and your next book is coming along.
Thanks for reading it, Simmone! Bricolage is such an apt word. The gaps and juxtapositions are where the energy is. And the objects. Keep flogging your manuscript (or gently offering it perhaps, flogging sounds kind of painful). But it is really hard at the moment for books that aren't likely to make anyone money, and publishing with small presses can take a lot of work. But these more unusual books feed and nourish the whole writing community. They certainly have fed and nourished me over the years. So it is worth persevering and keep looking for that small crack in the system to be able to sneak your bricolage memoir out into the world in book form.
What a delightfully thoughtful and thought-provoking interview! Thanks, Beth. There are so many topics in your interview which could lead to lively discussions between writers and readers. Your Mum's reaction to your swearing was classic. Some of us feel that our memory/point of view is the only truth. It reminded me, for a different reason, of the time in high school, when all I needed to get out of the house and catch the bus, was one HB pencil. No-one in the family understood how important it was. My pleas were being ignored. I had to have the pencil and the bus was due. So, I stood in the hallway and screamed - something I'd never done before. I screamed 'bloody, bloody, bloody.' Mum and my sister (who I knew was the real culprit whenever I had a missing pencil/pen) suddenly appeared. My sister kindly offered her pencil - which in truth was my pencil - and all was well. I managed to catch the bus and had my HB pencil for Drafting that day. I also love your the talk about identity and the importance of different types of families e.g. friend families. And, I love the way you touch on how our own family relationships can change over time. This interview stirred so many memories. Thank you, Beth.
Thank you so much for listening, Caroline Anne. So glad it stirred memories and thoughts. That HB pencil (like King Richard III's horse?) will live forever. And yes, families are multiple, shifting, dynamic entities.