Soaring above your scene

“A good novel is an out-of-self experience. It lifts you off the ground so that you have the sensation of flying. It says, 'Look at the world around you; learn from the people in these pages, neither quite me nor quite you, how life is lived in so many different ways.’” – Julia Glass

In 2002, Glass’s debut novel Three Junes got off to a very good liftoff, indeed, winning the National Book Award for Fiction.  Since then she’s led a very good writing life having half-a-dozen more novels published, all to excellent reviews.

Born on this date in 1956, Glass said, “My life has been wonderful, but if I had to live the life of someone else, I'd gladly choose that of Julia Child or Dr. Seuss: two outrageously original people, each of whom fashioned an idiosyncratic wisdom, passion for life, and sense of humor into an art form that anyone and everyone could savor.”

A native of Massachusetts she actually already took a couple of divergent life paths, first moving to Brooklyn, NY, after college to become a painter, then trying magazine editing in New York City before taking a stab at creative writing.  She now lives back in Massachusetts and in addition to the National Book Award, she’s won the prestigious William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for her efforts.

  

Julie Glass at the Texas Book Festival

“All the best novels are about one thing: how we go on,” she said.  “The characters must survive the fallout of their own cowardice, folly, denial or misguided passion. They squander what matters most, and still they pick up the pieces.”

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