the where of it

Midwestern writers weigh in on place

• Posted by Summer Wood on February 13th, 2009 filed in craft of writing, places
• 2 Comments »

Dateline:  Chicago.  At the Associated Writing Programs (AWP) conference, 7,000+ writers are holed up in the Hilton to listen to panels and attend readings.  I sat in on two panels on place, yesterday, and listened to writers expound on (1) landscape in the work of Midwestern writers, and (2) Chicago neighborhoods and claiming the territory.  Here are some choice quotes:

      “Some landscapes are both alluring and repulsive.”

      “Writers of color often feel that we are inhabiting a place despite rather than because of.”

      “Landscape anomalies become touchstones for characters.  They can provide the narrative engine for the work.”

      “A New Orleans vampire will be wetter, oozier, than a German vampire.”

      “The Midwest is a geographic place, but a universal condition.”

      “Place puts pressure on characters.”

      “Neighborhoods are specific not just to place but also to time.”

      “The more specific the place, the more intensely the characters become defined.”

      “There’s a tension between projecting ourselves onto the landscape, and recoiling from it.”

And, can anybody tell me what a “two-flat” is?