This famous guest has recently achieved much renown (or notoriety, depending on the viewpoint) as an exemplary writer, and one of the greatest orators of his age – in an age of great oratory. At first confused, Nathan's curiosity is piqued as he slowly realises that this man – Frederick Douglass – the greatest voice of abolition of his day – whose talent for shattering ignorance is unique – entrances his audiences with his eloquence, dignity, sharp wit, and unparalleled public speaking skills.
However, what Douglass and Nathan have yet to discover is that in a very short period of time, Ireland – at the beginning of the Great Famine – through individual acts of compassion and by bearing witness, will have as much of a profound effect upon Douglass as Douglass is to have upon Ireland. And further, that through these events, both he and Nathan will be irrevocably transformed.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. If you could work
with any other author, who would it be and why?
Although
not all of Shakespeare’s collaborators were exceptional writers, I still would
obviously feel utterly intimidated by working with the greatest writer of all
time. Nonetheless, I certainly would give anything to have been able to
observe him working, and to see the process by which he brought together all
his great ideas and characterisations, and how he managed to dream up his
extraordinary plays.
2. What would be a
typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
As
I have a lot of activities, and work at a full-time job, I catch a second here,
grab a minute wherever I can. Most of my writing involves a lot of
research, so I tend to do that while commuting. Writing tends to happen
in the evening and on weekends, but by the time I flip open the computer, I
already have a very clear idea of what I am going to write and how I am going
to structure it.
3. What is the hardest
part of the writing for you?
Staying
motivated, while recognising that I am a non-commercial artist, is my biggest
hurdle.
4. When and why did you
first start writing?
I
never had any intention of “becoming a writer”; it just, well…kind of
happened. For most of my life, my writing was confined to creating the
occasional humourous essay in the style of S.J. Perelman – or writing song lyrics
– which culminated in my writing a chamber opera based on the short stories of
New Zealand author, Katherine Mansfield. Afterwards, I saw an
advertisement for a non-credit poetry-writing course taught by Sue Sinclair at
McGill University. I had no intention of writing poetry; I just wanted to
write a better libretto. However, upon attending, I discovered that I,
apparently, had a flair for writing “light verse” (…and what does that
mean…fewer calories?). Eventually, I found that I had the ability to
handle more profound topics, as well. I believe that starting off with
poems made me more aware of the need for concision. In poetry, every word
is of the utmost importance – and repetition of words is to be avoided.
Using poetic techniques in a subtle fashion, in both short stories and novels,
I think adds greater depth to writing.
5. How did you come up
with the idea for your book?
The novel which I just published, Precept,
is a fictional account of the four months that 19th century civil rights leader
Frederick Douglass spent in Ireland. The story behind what suggested this
to me is rather convoluted. While watching a DVD of the film Lincoln,
directed by Stephen Spielberg, I started to ask myself, “Where are all the
black people?” I mean, I saw a couple of nameless soldiers, and a butler,
and a maid, but nobody else. Then I started to ask, “Where is Frederick
Douglass?” Now, you cannot discuss either American history, Civil War
history, the history of slavery, or history in general without acknowledging
Frederick Douglass. He was probably the most eloquent Orator of all time,
and of paramount importance in the fight to abolish of slavery.
Nonetheless, what I saw in Lincoln made me feel so upset, that I started
to read up on Frederick Douglass myself, and found an interesting little
historical tidbit, to wit, that he spent four months in Ireland when escaping
possible recapture as a “fugitive” slave. Also, that the country had
almost as much of a profound impact upon him, as he did upon it. I
thought, “What a marvelous idea for an historical novel.” Then I thought,
“How could I accomplish such a thing successfully?” So, I chose the
narrator to be a young Irish boy who witnesses and observes Mr. Douglass.
And much of what he sees goes unexplained, as children don’t understand
everything that goes on around them.
6. Are you a big reader?
If so, what are you reading now?
I
try to read as much as I can from as many sources as possible, mostly
classics. Most modern writing is done, for better or for worse, on a
for-profit basis, so while there are a number of good writers around, a large
percentage of them are forced to “fill out” their books so that publishing
companies can sell according to the number of pages. A salient example
that springs to mind is James Blish who wrote “A Case of Conscience.” I’m
not really interested in Science Fiction, but the first half of that book was
really not bad at all. The second half…well…not so much. This was
because the publisher wanted him to create a novel when the subject matter
could really only support a short story.
I
am currently reading the collected poems of Countee Cullen, edited by Major
Jackson. While his style is much more conservative and less experimental
than Langston Hughes, it is my personal opinion that he “hits the mark” more
often. I am also reading a collection of short stories by Graham Greene
(who has become very underestimated, of late), and a collection of F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s stories, “I’d die for you and other lost stories” edited by Anne
Margaret Daniel. I think the stories he held back because he couldn’t
sell them during his life are far better than the ones he sold for a great deal
of money.
7.
Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Don’t enter any poetry-writing competitions which charge
any fees! Save up your pennies and self-publish.
Further,
if memory serves, I believe that poet Mary Oliver says in one her books,
something along the lines that if you have a choice between doing your own
writing or reading another writer, one should choose to read someone else’s
writing first. In my opinion, preferably, the classics. Too many writers
are not aware of what has been done in the past, and as a result, one encounters
no cultural, sociological, nor historical context; and further, no one benefits
by re-inventing the wheel. In addition, if someone is going to try and be
socially conscious in what they write, they need to be aware that there is a
very fine line between making socially conscious artistic statements, and
creating propaganda – or just plain preaching. I stand to be corrected,
but I believe it was Alice Walker who once wrote that if you are going to write
political treatises, you should probably stay away from fiction writing.
In the 19th century, creative
writing was deemed to be worthwhile only if there was a strong,
judgmental, purported “moral” to be gleaned. This was the reason why homosexual
characters (or women who have extra-marital affairs) in the novels of that era,
always come to no good end. Even Oscar Wilde, who was gay himself, was
not immune from this sort of thing as one sees in The Picture of Dorian
Gray, an obvious allegory for someone like Wilde, who leads a “secret
life”. My strongest hope is that everyone should find that attitude
towards writing perverse. “Moral ambiguity” and not openly judging the
characters is always more interesting, and a more artistically sound method of
story-telling, in my opinion. In other words, let me think for
myself. Stories that let the reader decide what is right from wrong will
stand the test of time. It is the advantage a truly great film like Spike
Lee’s Do the Right Thing will always have over obviously silly films,
like certain Westerns or Police/Action movies where there are
excessively-clearly defined “Goodies” and “Baddies.”
Websites to Visit:
Author Biography
Matthew de Lacey
Davidson is the author of two poetry collections, a play in verse, a short
story collection, and a novel. In addition, he is a composer and pianist and
has released 12 compact discs. His poetry and short stories have been published
by "Grammateion," and the online literary journal, "Danse
Macabre"; music analyses by SCI; cartoons and reviews by TOM Magazine; and
cartoons by Canadian Science News. He has written the music, libretto, and lyrics
for a chamber opera, "The Singing Lesson," based on three short
stories by New Zealand author, Katherine Mansfield. He lives in Nova Scotia,
Canada, with his wife, Shayna, and a plethora of Siamese and Tonkinese cats.
Jill Murphy, writing in “thebookbag.co.uk,” when reviewing “Roses in
December: Haunting and Macabre Tales,” gave the following estimation:
“The style is elegant with carefully crafted sentences and precision in vocabulary…a pleasure to read…the authorial voice comes with empathy and compassion, always…And I think it speaks to the humanity in all of us. We would do well to listen.”
“The style is elegant with carefully crafted sentences and precision in vocabulary…a pleasure to read…the authorial voice comes with empathy and compassion, always…And I think it speaks to the humanity in all of us. We would do well to listen.”
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