'Don't get sucked into drama'

 

“Because Dad was famous, I was so used to being identified as 'John Huston's daughter' that I couldn't think of myself as anyone else.” – Allegra Huston

Born in London on this date in 1964, Huston has moved out of her famous family’s shadow through her success as an award-winning writer and editor.     Her novels Say My Name and Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found were multiple award winners, the former also made into an Academy Award winning movie.   She also is the writer and producer of the award-winning short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski.     

 

London critic Lynn Barber wrote in The Telegraph that, "Huston is an absolutely outstanding writer, incapable of writing a dull sentence."   In collaboration with the poet James Navé, she conducts writing workshops called “The Imaginative Storm,” a multi-day program which they have taught in many places around the world.   And she’s written two books for writers: How to Edit and Be Edited, and How to Read for an Audience.

 

Her advice for writers is to the point. “Don't waste time on what's not important. Don't get sucked into the drama. Get on with it: don't dwell on the past. Be a big person; be generous of spirit; be the person you'd admire.”