3-2-1 Carolyn Parkhurst Reading

Things I learned:

Carolyn Parkhurst has written 3 novels called The Dogs of Babel, Lost and Found, and (her most recent) The Nobodies Album. She read two passages from The Nobodies Album, which is about a novelist named Octavia who learns her famous son has been arrested for murder. With Octavia being a novelist Carolyn wrote a book within a book. The first passage she read was about Octavia and her isolated and slightly pessimistic perspective. The second passage Carolyn read was an excerpt from Octavia’s book. Octavia (actually Carolyn) had the idea of writing a book containing revised endings from the author’s previously published book. Carolyn admitted that her idea was risky, but she encouraged the young writers in the room to take risks and experiment. She also encouraged us to get a dog. She swore they are a wealth of inspiration and character.

Her dog actually inspired her first book, The Dogs of Babel. Carolyn also encouraged us to read as much as we can. You can learn a lot about writing by reading. She also encouraged us to find publishers who we trust and would like to start a relationship with. You don’t want to be too eager and give your book to just anyone.

Further clarification:

One thing I would’ve liked to know more about is her process of structuring her novels. The Nobodies Album, in particular, seemed to be quite complicated because it was a book within a book. Carolyn was very encouraging and told us to work hard, but I would’ve liked to hear about any struggles she faced such as writer’s block. Also, The Nobodies album seemed to have a few fantastic elements to it, like the story of the mother who haunted her son and husband. I was curious whether she had intended on that from the beginning or whether those elements came about naturally.

Question:

I really enjoyed her reading and I plan on picking up at least one of her books over winter break. My question is when did she know she wanted to be a novelist and when did she begin sending her work to publishers? Did she do any journalism or was she committed to fiction from the start?