Amelia Gray | Carr Reading Series | April 18, 4:30 pm | Illini Union Bookstore | FREE
Illinois’ Carr Reading Series is a hidden gem in C-U’s diverse cultural landscape. Tucked away in the Author’s Corner at the Illini Union Bookstore, Carr has played host to an incredibly diverse cross section of literary voices, from Lucie Brock-Broido to Natasha Tretheway to Dave Eggers. In fact, this semester’s lineup is a testement to how diverse the reading series is becoming. Toi Derricotte and Joy Harjo (both of whom read earlier this month) are the sorts of writers you expect to see at a university reading, insofar as they each represent a distinct voice in our national literary discourse. The same might not be universally said of Amelia Gray, though it should be, and in due time, most certainly will be.
Gray is easily one of the strangest, smartest writers to cross over from the independent literary scene into the mainstream. Her first novel, Threats, was released through FSG earlier this year, and has since gained a much larger cult following than her previous two collections, Featherproof’s AM/PM, and Museum of the Weird, which won FC2’s American Book Review/Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about Gray’s efforts so far has been her ability to be both strange and relatable, avant garde and marketable. In short, she’s the perfect author to round out this year’s Carr Series, and you should do whatever you can to get over to the IUB this Wednesday to check her out.
Leading up to her reading, she was kind enough to chat with me over the internets. Read her awesome answers to my awkward questions and then mark your calendar for Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., or something indescribably bad will happen to you.
Amelia Gray: I believe in the idea of continuum more readily than a binary distinction and I’d place my work closer to the poetic than the narrative. But then, on the continuum of poetry and mimesis (by which I mean strict representation and not, like, Dionysian imitation or whatever), I’m edging over into the mimetic camp. My general goal in writing is to imitate life in a way that is so easily read as to be absorbed into the skin.
SP: This bent towards the mimetic at times has you delving into the minutiae of a given task or occupation like dentistry or cosmetology. “Waste,” from Museum of the Weird, is very anchored in the main character’s day-to-day work as a garbage collector, though its argument lies in his relationship with his cannibal neighbor. What do you hope that the tension between the real and the surreal/unreal in your work ultimately produces?
Gray: The longer my stories get, the more I feel like I should be talking about the characters’ jobs. Maybe it’s the fact that I work as a marketing writer in my day job, talking a lot about occupations in terms of wages and responsibilities. A character feels very false to me if I don’t know what he or she does for a living. From there, all sorts of interesting things rise up.
I think that all writers have a goal to keep the reader on their toes — of keeping the story compelling, the characters fresh — the surreal/real juxtapositions are perhaps just the way I do it.
SP: Before Threats you were known for your short fiction. But Threats is hardly a departure from your shorter work in that it’s a series of very short chapters, some of which could easily stand alone, that add up to being a 281 page novel. What interests you about working with shorter pieces of prose?
Gray: My goal when starting Threats was indeed to write stand-alone pieces which truly linked. As a reader, I like to have these contained pieces to consider, each with their own moods. I also take small bites of ice cream so I can really taste it.
SP: What’s been the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make after moving from independent presses to FSG? Has the increased recognition messed with your process at all?
Gray: I did have a bad feeling, somewhere around 18k–24k words into the novel, that I was writing for a different audience, one that was less willing to go along with me into the odder elements, but I got over it. I’m looking forward to writing the next book with less hesitation.
SP: Cool. So, uh, who’s your favorite rapper and why?
Gray: I dunno about favorite, but I’ve been jamming on Azalea Banks lately. Lady rappers are my standard tour choice. Pre-reading hotel room hip-hop moments. I’m more into Nicki than usual.