For insider tips on the New York publishing scene and ways to make it as a successful writer post-graduation, Russell House was the place to be on Sunday afternoon, as authors Alexander Chee and Katha Pollitt delighted a Homecoming crowd during their reading.
The pair offered a taste of the talent involved with Wesleyan’s yearly Writer’s Conference, which both Chee and Pollitt had attended last June. The reading was both a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the prestigious conference and a fascinating examination of the challenges inherent within any sort of writing career. The writers offered tantalizing advice on how to succeed in the competitive world of professional writing.
Both Chee and Pollitt have new books coming out in the spring, as well a staggering number of awards between them for prior work, but the similarities between the two end there. Chee approached the podium with a Pi Café coffee in hand, a straggly goatee, and a sardonic sense of humor, while Pollitt was every inch the elegant journalist, armed with piercing quips about the upcoming election.
While Chee read a lyrical and transfixing selection from his soon to be published novel, “Queen of the Night,” Pollitt had both parents and students in absolute stitches of laughter as she read a selection of her political columns which attacked Harriet Meiers and the American culture wars. The stark contrast between their two writing styles kept the energy of the crowd high, and served as a potent reminder of the exciting breadth of writers working today.
A Wesleyan graduate who was mentored by Annie Dillard during his time on campus, Chee’s writing demonstrated the usual pedigree of Wesleyan talent. He read from the opening of his upcoming novel.
The book is a story of a 19th century soprano growing up on a Minnesotan farm, struggling with her conservative Methodist family who tries to suppress her eerie singing talent by tying her mouth shut with ribbons. While Chee addressed the dramatic world of opera before in his award winning debut novel “Edinburgh,” the story of a young male opera singer in England, his new work was a lesson of the perils of historical research.
“I live in fear of the historian who says your book’s a pile of crap because you got one thing wrong,” Chee said, “although I grew up in Maine, which is almost like living in a century gone by.”
Pollitt, the recipient of a National Magazine Award, was very much steeped in the dramas of 21st century politics. Both of her selected readings were written in an extremely entertaining and satirical list form. The first, an open letter to Karl Rove, explained why Pollitt herself would be a far more superior candidate for Supreme Court justice than Harriet Meiers.
Her reasons included “Number One: I’m a woman, and have been one for years,” and “Number Two: As a half Jewish, half Episcopalian atheist, I could unite all of my America on religious issues.”
“Meiers has changed political positions so many times throughout her career,” Pollitt said. “How can the president be sure she won’t change again? One day she could be sitting up there in the Supreme Court wearing a burka.”
The audience, especially the younger student portion of the crowd, was absorbed by the straightforward advice that both Chee and Pollitt gave about forging careers in writing and publishing.
“Like most Wesleyan students, I was truly lost after graduation,” Chee said, who worked in proofreading for a New York magazine for several years. “I wasn’t cut out for office work. I didn’t like coming back and finding my chair covered with post-its from my boss. Lots of people who write go into publishing afterwards, but it isn’t necessarily the best thing for them.”
Pollitt also struggled with her proofreading job at Esquire magazine while earning what she called a “truly useless” MFA in writing from Columbia.
“Experience in proofreading is important because it makes you see the seams that keep writing together,” said Pollitt. “It’s like when you turn a tapestry over and see what a mess it is underneath. You need to know where to put your commas.”
Chee said that writing can be taught.
“It’s habits of mind and habits of behavior,” he said. “Being talented is nothing. Talented people usually don’t have the discipline to live like writers, which doesn’t allow them to compete. It only allows them to go so far. When I see students come into my class, I always think it’s nice that you’re so talented, but you probably won’t make it.”
Students appreciated the candid advice.
“The best advice that both Chee and Pollitt gave to aspiring writers, ‘Don’t go into publishing. You’ll make more money waiting tables,’” said Jennifer Celestin ’07. “I found that very relevant and amusing to my present situation because as an aspiring writer, I was considering working for publishing. I thought I’d be able to better understand writing on the inside. But the truth is, as Chee points out, publishing does not give most writers what they really want which is time and space to write for self, to write creatively.”
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