I had decided to retire the literary Would You Rather series, but didn't want to stop interviews on the site all together. Instead, I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!
Today we are joined by Sandell Morse, the prize-winning author of the memoir, The Spiral Shell, A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II (Schaffner Press, April 2020, paperback April 2022). The Spiral Shell is a Silver Medal winner in the Story Circle Women’s Book Awards, 2020, memoir, and a finalist for the New Hampshire Literary Award, 2021, nonfiction. Morse’s essays have been noted in The Best American Essays series and published in Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, the New England Review, Fourth Genre ASCENT, Solstice, and Tiferet among others. She has won the Michael Steinberg essay prize, been nominated for Best of the Net and for two Pushcart Prizes. Morse has been a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, an Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, a resident at the Hewnoaks Artists’ Colony, and a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia and in Auvillar, France. She holds degrees from Wilson College, the University of New Hampshire, and Dartmouth College. Morse lives in New Hampshire with Zeus, her Standard Poodle.
Why do you write?
Writing is so much a part of me now, that without it
don’t feel centered. When I was very young, I was a dancer, and I thought that
would be my career. Being a writer is like being a dancer, an artist, an
athlete; you fall down into a place where you become one with that thing and the
rest of the world peels away. And when writing takes me to that place, I am
integrated, and all of me is pursuing -what I love, knowledge, understanding,
compassion, justice.
What made you start writing?
I love that question because I entered by what I call the
back door. I’d never dreamed of becoming a writer. I was middle-aged, back in
school, pursuing a Master’s Degree when I stepped into what I thought was a
literature class and saw a large oval table with chairs. I looked at Ishmael
Reed, the instructor, and said, “Is this literature?” He said, “No, it’s
fiction writing.” I said, “Oh, I don’t write fiction.” He said, “How do you
know?” I said, “I guess I don’t.” He said, “Sit down.” I sat down, I became a
fiction writer, and now write nonfiction, memoir.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
Am I ever not writing? That’s kind of flip, but I walk a
lot with Zeus, my Standard Poodle, and because walking is a moving meditation,
I find I’m writing in my head without intending to. The same thing happens when
I hike. Not when I ski. Writing is not in my head when I ski. I love to watch films,
especially documentaries. And I read. Can’t write without reading.
If you could spend the day with another author, who would
you choose and why?
I’d love to spend a day with Melissa Febos. Seems strange.
She’s in her early forties; I’m in my early eighties. She’s a queer woman; I’m
a straight woman who has lived a mostly conventional life, but when I read her
work, I feel as if she’s talking to me. She writes beautifully and fearlessly.
She’s brilliant. She brings interesting source material into her work. Many of
her insights are ah ha moments for me. I imagine a path through woods, a
meandering stream, the two of us walking, and me listening.
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading Best American Essays edited by friend
and writer, Alexander Chee. I’m about half way through, and I haven’t found
once essay that I haven’t savored. This is an extraordinary collection. I’m
also listening to South to America: A Journey Below the Mason- Dixon
to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry. It w-on the National
Book Award for nonfiction; Melissa Febos was one of the judges, and on Twitter
she recommended the book. I generally read what she recommends. If you think
you’ve read everything you need to about race in American, and you haven’t read
South to America, give it a read or a listen.
What genres won’t you read?
I won’t read horror. Too scary. I generally don’t choose
science fiction, speculative fiction, or fantasy, but recently, I read Burning
Girls by Veronica Schanoes, which is both speculative fiction and fantasy,
and I loved it.
If you could time travel, would you go back to the past
or forward into the future?
Do you DNF books?
Yes. Sometimes, because I mean to get back to them and
don’t. Sometimes because I don’t like the writing or the characters?
What scares you the most?
The pursuit of power at any cost.
Are you a book hoarder or a book unhauler?
Well, in 2020, I moved from a large house with plenty of
room for bookshelves to a tiny condo, I was forced to unhaul. I miss some of my
old books. I’ve bought some again. I’m buying new books, mostly by friends. I
love books, so at heart I’m a hoarder with the ability to unhaul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this
haunting memoir that reflects on the Holocaust and its legacy, award-winning author
Sandell Morse discovers stories of bravery and resistance enacted during WWII in
a small town in southern France. In the course of six years, she painstakingly pieces
together the puzzle that had been beguiling her over the years: what was the
story of France’s Jews under the Vichy government during the Second World War?
Inspired by her dogged curiosity and determination to uncover the
truth, she met with survivors and historians to seek deeper meaning and
understanding of what had happened to France’s Jews and found herself embarked,
not only on an historical journey, but on a spiritual journey that marked a
return to her own Jewish heritage.
buy a copy:
No comments:
Post a Comment