TALKING to PAPA: Interview with a very anxious Hemingway

Written By Terence Hawkins

In his Nobel acceptance speech--to which he refers here--Hemingway said that writers should write, not talk.  This interview proves him right.  

Speaking in a strange staccato voice from verbatim notes apparently arranged on the floor, he's more wooden than his contemporary, Howdy Doody.  Worse, he's so nervous that he actually articulates the punctuation marks in the cheat sheets.  As you'll see, when the agony ends, he grips the interviewer's hand with a gratitude and relief so genuine that it brings tears to the eyes.

Sadly, though, it must be noted that the Nobel to which he refers was awarded in 1954.  That means that the man we're looking at was a very old 55, with seven more years of hard living to go.  Plimpton remarked that towards the end you could actually see his liver. Though certainly a stranger to neither grain nor grape myself, I have to say that Hemingway's appearance here is a powerful reminder that it's a good idea to tap the brakes every now and again.

And of course, that writers should write, not talk.

Terence Hawkins

Terence Hawkins is an author and literary entrepreneur. 

His most recent novel, American Neolithic, was called "a towering work of speculative fiction" in a Year's Best review in Kirkus Reviews. "Leftovers" author Tom Perrotta said it is "a one of a kind novel. . . Terry Hawkins is a bold and fearless writer." Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang, said "American Neolithic is overflowing with ideas, the narrative running on overdrive at all times."

His first book, The Rage of Achilles, is a recounting of the Iliad in the form of a novel. Based on the Homeric text as well as the groundbreaking work of neuropsychologist and philosopher Julian Jaynes, it reimagines the Trojan War as fought by real soldiers, rather than heroes and gods. Richard Selzer called it "masterful. . .infused with all the immediacy of a current event."

Hawkins is also the author of numerous short stories and essays. His work has been published in Eclectica, Pindeldyboz, Poor Mojo's Almanac(k), and Magaera, as well as many other journals. His opinion and humor has also appeared in the New Haven Register and on Connecticut Public Radio.

In 2011, Terence Hawkins founded the Yale Writers' Conference. By 2015 it brought over three hundred participants from every continent but Antarctica to New Haven to work with celebrated writers including Colum McCann, Julia Glass, Colm Toibin, and Amy Bloom.

Hawkins now manages the Company of Writers, offering authors' services including weekend workshops and manuscript consultation. The Company also coaches first-time authors through the writing and submission process.

Terence Hawkins grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town famous as the setting of Phillipp Meyer's American Rust. He is an alumnus of Yale University, where he served as Publisher of the Yale Daily News. He is married to Sharon Witt and lives in New Haven.

Hawkins is currently at work on another novel.

 

http://www.terence-hawkins.com
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