Ursula Hegi (BSS #153)

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Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating the worst thing he’s ever done.

Author: Ursula Hegi

Subjects Discussed: Collage artist protagonists and collage-inspired novels, stream of consciousness and italics, using specific fonts, Mason’s voice as a pulse, how Hegi communicated with typographers, the problems with emailing manuscripts, characters representing a contentious unified whole, subverting the nuclear family structure, the layers that come from writing 50+ drafts, gestures involving shoulder blades, why there are so many water environments in Hegi’s work, kayaks, William Faulkner’s building, on whether or not a novel is “absolutely right,” the origins of the name Mason, working on an intuitive level, planning through revision, ellipses and pauses, the introduction of a protester into the narrative, the Tribe of the Barefoot Women, nasty fortune cookies, the peace symbol and Mercedes-Benz, confusion in semiotics, Bush and Hitler comparisons, the curtailing of rights in contemporary America, how Hegi varies her stylistic vernaculars, being driven by writing, and being a “method writer.”

EXCERPT FROM SHOW:

Hegi: For example, to write from Annie’s point of view, I need to become Annie. To write from Opal’s point of view, I need to be nine years old. To write from Trudi Montag’s point of view in Stones from the River, I am her height. I feel her rage. I feel her bliss. I cannot write about feelings unless I go there with the characters. So sometimes I sit at my desk blushing, smiling, close to tears. But I do have to become each character. It’s like method acting.

Correspondent: Yeah. Interesting. Did you have any theatrical background?

Hegi: No. But I read about method acting when I was in my thirties. And I thought, “But that’s what I’ve been doing in my writing!”

2 Responses to “Ursula Hegi (BSS #153)”

  • The Bat Segundo Show « Ilang Tala Mula sa Atisan says:

    [...] The Bat Segundo Show If you still haven’t listened to any of The Bat Segundo Show presentations—interviews with writers such as David Mitchell, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ngugi wa Thiong’o (three of the novelists in my most recent reads)—I think it’s about time you do. I love love the internet for “free” stuff like these. And, oh yes, the link’s here, and the most recent conversation is with Ursula Hegi. [...]

  • lia may-byrd says:

    So fun to hear Ursula on your show! I love that women and her latest book!

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