“Writing is a cul-de-sac of inability to do anything else.”
Photograph: © Ben Williams
Padgett Powell
Padgett Powell is regarded as one of the most interesting writers in America today. The New York Times calls him "a master of voice, a generator of absolutely particular, original, hilarious human sounds." Powell wishes he'd penned Absalom! Absalom!, and recommends a twisted fellow from Jacksonville as a young writer to watch.
Where are you right now?
Beside the Buffalo River, Arkansas.
Where do you write?
On a neat desk overlooking woods.
How do you write?
I get up, put on coffee and pants, see if I have something to say.
What keeps you writing?
Sometimes I feel frisky enough to presume.
Who do you write for?
People I want to think not ill of me.
Do you discuss your work with anyone?
No. I have run all the women off.
How do you know if your work is good?
If the first impression is that it is worthless, the second that it is not that bad, the third that it is maybe okay--in fact, who wrote this? Where did it come from?
Do you have any unwritten characters in mind?
No. I have nothing in mind; I look for the next word.
Which book do you wish you'd written?
Absalom! Absalom!
What is your literary guilty pleasure?
Not reading.
Which writer made you want to write?
At age seven or so I read this dedication to me in one of my grandmother's (Rubylea Hall) novels:
FOR
My grandson, John (Padgett) Powell, who bears (through coincidence) the name the Flaming Prince was known by, until he chose his warrior name, Assi Yahola.
This had a magic effect. Later, when I realized my grandmother had escaped the family by becoming a black sheep and moving to New York to be a writer, I saw her as the thing to be.
Who's the most exciting author writing today?
There is a young twisted fellow from Jacksonville Florida named Marcus Pactor. It's the best I've seen in some time.
If you weren't writing you'd be...?
Not writing. Writing is a cul-de-sac of inability to do anything else.
What next?
I am playing with a cartoonish book that involves these things: a grandee of southern letters who keeps boys, one of the boys, another of the boys who dies, an Author hired by a Committee to write this book, the Author's father's book on WWII, and another book in which the Author's father appears. These last two books are real, and the Author's father is my father.
...............................................................................................................................................
Padgett Powell's most recent books are The Interrogative Mood and You & I, both published by Serpent's Tail.
...............................................................................................................................................
Wednesday, 7 December, 2011
In How I write
- Samantha Harvey
- Padgett Powell
- Thomas E. Kennedy
- Alexander Maksik
- Jo Baker
- Hari Kunzru
- Chris Adrian
- Jane Harris
- Manju Kapur
- David Baddiel
- Justin Cartwright
- E. C. Osondu
- Paul Bailey
- David Means
- Colm Tóibín
- Tim Butcher
- Tim Parks
- Cristos Tsiolkas
- David Mitchell
- Sadie Jones
- Amy Bloom
- John Burnside
- Geoff Dyer
- David Malouf
- Janice Galloway
- Michael G. Jacob and Daniela De Gregorio
- Alaa Al Aswany
- Nick Laird
- T. C. Boyle
- Nicolas Fargues
- Zoe Heller
- Shalom Auslander
- James Salter
- Ali Smith
- James Frey
- Linn Ullmann
- Julian Barnes
- Joe Dunthorne
- Richard Milward
Newsletter
Untitled Books
Your account
Register for an account and review books, comment on articles and build a list of your favourite reviews. Coming soon.
