Subject
You wrote a dissertation on Nabokov’s Ada ...
From
Date
Body
Complete interview at the following URL: http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Cover_Story/2007/10/11/I_Wonder_What_on_Earth_Possessed/
Cover Story
October 11, 2007
I Wonder What on Earth Possessed Me
A conversation with Bobbie Ann Mason
by Michael Sims
Scene: How did the protagonist of your new book, Nancy Culpepper, materialize in your mind?
Mason: In about 1980 I wrote some notes in a notebook about my grandmother’s photographs, along with the name NANCY CULPEPPER.
[ ... ]
Scene: You wrote a dissertation on Nabokov’s Ada. Your method of creating a character piece by piece reminds me of Nabokov’s method of composing all over the canvas at once on those famous oversize index cards.
Mason: I don’t use index cards, but Nabokov’s kaleidoscopic method of imagining the surfaces is something I identify with. I don’t have a logical mind that can seize a linear narrative. To me, writing is like working a giant jigsaw puzzle, with the pieces mixed up and facing downward. Little by little I discover how they’re put together.
Scene: Do you have an idea of what’s next for you? Or have you already written new work that has yet to be published?
Mason: I don’t have anything new, but I’m working on a novel. I’m in the beginning stages. Usually I flounder around for a year, getting distracted by research (far more than necessary), and procrastinating. This is a miserable and scary process, and I wonder what on earth possessed me. But I recognize this stage and have grown more patient with it. Sooner or later, things start to click and then I get more focused. By the end, I don’t want to quit.
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm