May 21st, 2009 / 12:20 pm
Author Spotlight
Dispatches from Captain Maximus (guest posted by Michael Bible)
Michael Bible, a former student of Barry Hannah (and wearing one of the best names around), shares some of his Hannah light:
Zita, an odd and earnest woman in her 60’s, sat in on Barry Hannah’s workshop. She often reeked of gin. She hounded Barry so much about “rules” to writing (something he preached hard against) that he finally caved and wrote out a few things for her about her writing. She photocopied the handwritten “rules” and passed them out to everyone in the class the next week. So when reading this remember they are addressed to her.
1. [Your writing is] in the rut of adjectives and “Life Studies.” In the rut of people who aren’t there.
2. When you tell a story think more in terms of yarn, tale, even whopper. Then tell it subtly. DON’T think of nuance or “interior decoration.”
3. Your characters HAVE to be people of interest. Neither suburban, rural or local “types.” They must be in conflict, with a life or death problem at stake.
4. Pride, dignity, humiliation, wild pones, criminal, impotent watchers of sex (Popeye with the corncob.)
5. Your style should be vivid and memorable, something from the loins, gut, heart and head that is strong even if it is soft. Tell a story naturally. See if you HAVE a voice that has not been trained out of you by other writers, teachers, or even the favored classics of literature. Try being alone and honest very hard. Love your loneliness. Get close to your page. Just START TALKING, as Mark Twain did. He was the first natural voice, he WAS the first truly American writer.
6. In grad workshops your can make QUANTUM LEAPS in your art as you cannot with a piano or saxophone. (Perhaps you can in painting or photography e.g. my own [illegible] where I am never going to be better than an adequate cartoonist or late modern [illegible]. But you cannot WANT to learn, not want to listen to the advice of professional writers. You can just cool your jets and be mediocre the rest of your writing life. RETREAT is what I see happening too much. The adventure is left out. You are afraid of reading into the ACTS of others, you are stuck in mere conciseness. So DO something more and leave complacency—give your men and women something to do, to say, to move, to explode or implode.
This second item is Barry Hannah, Larry Brown and Brad Watson chatting on the radio. I have no idea what it was for. I got it from an old friend of Barry’s. It’s from 1994 and is about an hour long and damn funny. Barry really gets going by the end and Larry is typical badass self.
– Michael Bible is the author of the forthcoming chapbooks, “My Second Best Bear Rug” (Paper Hero Press) and “Gorilla Math” (Greying Ghost Press).
Tags: Barry Hannah, michael bible, workshop
My old dictionary says a pone is “a baked or fried bread made of cornmeal.” I thought maybe it was something sexual but…
Still, I’d like to eat a wild pone.
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May 21st, 2009 / 1:44 pmjereme—
it’s kind of like a hush puppy.
wild hush puppies sound sexual to me too.
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May 21st, 2009 / 3:35 pmmichael b—
should be “wild ponies.” sorry bout that.
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Blake this is amazing. Michael Bible! You have made my week. Thank you from the soles of my sneakers to the crown of my head, to say nothing of fingertips, where the writing leaks from.
KevinS- pone typically in the form of cornpone. It’s Southern food, all right. Ever read Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men by Padgett Powell? There’s a long riff on cornpone, as I recall.
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May 21st, 2009 / 1:19 pmBlake Butler—
seriously, michael came thru in spades
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May 21st, 2009 / 9:07 pmKevinS—
I liked Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men. It was fun and wild, if not a little silly. I really love Padgett Powell too. Another underappreciated person we should be talking about.
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i just bought ray. i’m excited.
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May 21st, 2009 / 1:19 pmBlake Butler—
oh yes. i am excited for you.
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May 21st, 2009 / 9:00 pmKevinS—
Ray is great stuff.
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and i love rules #3 #4 and #6. good stuff.
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I too shared a class with Zita! Barry asked her to leave the class once bc she was asking stupid questions.
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im so happy this was posted.
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This is great. Yeah Blake and Michael!
Zita and her gin breath. I love it.
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Best ever. Thanks for posting this.
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i really enjoy # 5
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Good stuff, Blake. Thanks for the post!
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just a heads up. the oxford conference for the book will be on Barry Hannah in the spring. everyone please come to oxford!!!
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[...] Bible shares some rules for writing (of a sort) by Barry Hannah at HTMLGIANT. An excerpt: 2. When you tell a [...]
Infinite love for Barry Hannah. Reading High Lonesome right this minute!
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that was awesome. levitating in front of my computer while reading. hannah is magic.
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This is my favorite htmlgiant post ever
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I couldn’t download the audio file. It says it expired. Please help!
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I’m working on it, kevin.
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Gospel #5 is hammer right on the nail. Hannah is a hammer through the bone.
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[...] Giant recently had a nice post from a former student of Barry Hannah’s that details the master’s rules for stories. Definitely check it out because the poster even featured a copy of Hannah’s handwritten [...]
[...] voice that has not been trained out of you.” Barry Hannah’s (handwritten) writing tips invoke Mark Twain. (Via; thanks, [...]
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
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Michael thanks so much for posting this. Any luck reposting the audio? I’d love to hear the conversation and I seem to have missed the window.
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thanks for this! great stuff.
The file for the mp3 has expired… is there anyone that could email it to me, or possibly re-up? I want to hear this bad!
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May 30th, 2009 / 11:08 pmBill—
I second Christian’s request and add a pretty please!
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here’s the interview re-uploaded!
http://www.mediafire.com/?jm0dtngjynz
xoxo,
Cats Purring
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[...] mp3 conversation between Barry Hannah & Larry Brown (from this post) has been reposted for download [...]
thank you!!!
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Could you repost the Barry Hannah, Larry Brown and Brad Watson mp3. it’s expired. thanks
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yeah man, thanks. barry was a teacher in the 80s at MSU, then became a friend. am dling it now. will comment afterwards. i’ve got a great bh reading from msu…i think water liars is on it, but no way to transfer it, if someone’s feeling active.
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Can the download be sent to me or re posted, it isn’t working. Thanks.
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[...] An old Michael Bible post on htmlgiant reprints some of Barry Hannah’s “rules” for writing, such [...]
[...] for those who missed it, or would like to hear again, an audio conversation between Barry Hannah and Larry Brown, available [...]