|
FOREWORD |
|
"This character needs to be explored in more depth." |
|
"Awkward sentence." |
|
My comments. My lectures. My advice. |
|
I often wonder if my students hear me; or, if they do hear me, I wonder how serious they are about what I have to say. I also wonder—or, should I say, worry—about the degree to which mass media has stifled the inventiveness of beginning writers. Looking at this collection of stories from one creative writing course, I think I can put my concerns to rest. Indeed, from a collection of short fiction that is not only richly diversified in subject matter but also in style and narrative format, I can see that my students are both serious about their work and unhampered by the deadening effects of television and the like on their imagination. |
|
Herein you will find stories about the young and old, about men and women, families. Many of the topics—sexuality, drugs, love interests, adolescent angst—you've seen before and might expect from a group of writers many of whom are in their early twenties. Yet the perspectives on these topics are fresh as in Shari Poindexter Douglas's story about three women who seem to battle for the attention of one man, when, in reality, two of them are helping the third garner the man's affection. Likewise, Madaleine J. Laird's story explores the failing relationship of a young woman serving in the Air Force—she sees that her happy marriage is not so happy. |
|
Of course, not all of the writers from this course are students in their early twenties. Time and perspective help Maggi Michel look back at a young girl's transition to adulthood in "St. Fragile, Pray for Us." But the younger writer can also imagine the older character, as in Scott Lunceford's story, "Dreams from Beacon Hill," or Denise Silva's story, "Settling." Nor is point of view regarding character determined by the gender of the writer: Larry Shoham writes beautifully about a divorcee who wants to develop a relationship with her rabbi. |
|
Again and again, you will find a rich diversity of human experience keenly captured in these stories. If you have wondered about the future of fiction, of what's to come, then read on. You will find cause for hope. |
|
Greg Sarris
|