A Writer's Moment: 'It's how you achieve a sense of wonder'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's how you achieve a sense of wonder':   “Ultimately, theatre is about creating a sense of wonder, and I think wonder is achieved not by a kind of wide-eyed silliness but by being...

'It's how you achieve a sense of wonder'

 

“Ultimately, theatre is about creating a sense of wonder, and I think wonder is achieved not by a kind of wide-eyed silliness but by being available to that which is most unknown, inside the material and inside yourself.” – George C. Wolfe

 

Born in Frankfort, KY on this date in 1954, Wolfe is a playwright and director in both theater and film, and an occasional actor.  He won Tony Awards for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and for the musical Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.  Most recently he has directed the Eugene O'Neill revival The Iceman Cometh (with Denzel Washington) and the musical Gypsy (with Audra MacDonald).  He also was seen as an actor in the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada 2.

 

Wolfe started writing both poetry and prose while still in high school and first tried his hand at writing plays while studying at Pomona College in California.  He went on to earn his MFA in dramatic writing and musical theater at New York University before embarking on an award-filled writing, producing and directing career.  In 2013 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

 

“Confidence," he said, "comes in going on personal journeys in a public arena and feeling as though you have a right to do that.  You have to give yourself permission to discover what you need to discover and not worry about how pretty the journey is.  If you're aware of the pretty, you're not going to dig into the mess.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The essence of ideas'

A Writer's Moment: 'The essence of ideas':   “Human history in essence is the history of ideas.” – H. G. Wells Born in England on Sept. 21, 1866 Wells has been called “The Father o...

'The essence of ideas'

 

“Human history in essence is the history of ideas.” – H. G. Wells

Born in England on Sept. 21, 1866 Wells has been called “The Father of Science Fiction" (although some argue that it was Jules Verne).  Prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, and social commentary, he authored such Sci-Fi classics as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The War of the Worlds, made even more famous after a 1938 radio broadcast by actor Orson Welles.

 

Born into a poor family, Wells suffered a broken leg at age 9 and while recuperating spent almost all his time reading books from the free library, deciding then and there he wanted to be a writer.  After putting himself through secondary school – overcoming financial and personal hardship in the process – he went on to earn a college degree in the sciences and begin his long, successful writing career.   

 

His scientific background stood him in good stead when he started writing his “fantastical” stories that became the foundation for what would be termed “science” fiction.  Also an artist, Wells made part of his living doing sketches but noted “I had rather be called a journalist than an artist” since it was also during that time – in his late 20s and 30s – that he started writing social commentary for newspapers and magazines.  But, while he was widely read in other genres, it was his science fiction that made him famous.

 

Wells noted that an author should always strive to make a story as credible as possible, even if both the writer and the reader know certain elements might be impossible.  That, he said, allows a reader to accept the ideas as something that might really happen.  

 

“What really matters,” he said, “is what you do with what you have.”

A Writer's Moment: 'It's that place to belong'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's that place to belong':   “I just love writing. It's magical, it's somewhere else to go, it's somewhere much more dreadful, somewhere much more exciting...

'It's that place to belong'

 

“I just love writing. It's magical, it's somewhere else to go, it's somewhere much more dreadful, somewhere much more exciting. Somewhere I feel I belong, possibly more than in the so-called real world.” – Tanith Lee

 

Born in London in September of 1947, Lee authored nearly 100 novels, 300 short stories, 1 children's picture book (Animal Castle), and many poems. She also wrote two episodes of the BBC science fiction series Blake's 7 and was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award’s best novel for her book Death's Master – the second in her “Flat Earth” series.

 

Vibrant and exotic are often words used by critics when describing her writing but perhaps the best thing that might be said about her style is that it can’t be categorized.  Thus, she attracted a broad readership for her works.   

 

Lee, who died of breast cancer in 2015, said that while her own vivid imagination shaped her writing style, she also was influenced by writers “across the board . . . by many.”   In 2024 Lee was honored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) with their Infinity Award, which posthumously honors creators who died before they could be considered for the organization’s coveted Grand Master Award. 

 

“At an early school, when I was about 5, they asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. Everyone said silly things, and I said I wanted to be an actress. So that was what I wanted to be.  But what I was, of course, was a writer.”

A Writer's Moment: Where loyalty lies

A Writer's Moment: Where loyalty lies:   “If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.”  – Claude McKay   Born in Jamaica in September of...