Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? This blog entry is dedicated to my dear friend Greg Dyer.

Friday it poured words, wit and rain.

I had to get to W. 38th Street to pick up my marked copy of Bogart's book that I had sent from home. Because my mail is hit and miss, I had Mike VanAartsen send it to Mitch and Marcie's in Harlem. Mitch is in rehearsals for Suzan Lori Park's 365 that mounts next week at the Public, so I had to meet him at his rehearsal space.

I was so eager to get to the Joyce Carol Oats interview at the 92nd Street Y. I have read a few of her novels and short stories, but it is her photograph that has always intrigued me. She looks as if she was lifted from a F Scott Fitzgerald novel. When I mentioned this to Greg Dyer, he agreed and said, "...or a Faulkner work - like A Rose for Emily." Exactly. Although, she is so thin that she would never have made an indentation in the pillow. When she walked on the stage the woman behind me said, "My gosh, she looks as if she could vanish." Her appearance, other than her translucent complexion and flapper haircut, included a white frilly sweater and black slacks that both hung on her. Her black comfortable shoes looked as if she had bought them to waitress in. Delicately frumpy would be my description. Also, when she walked out on the stage, she stared hard and waved at us one face at a time, as if she recognized us as old friends. It was endearing.

Following are my notes and JCO quotes from the event:

*"Life is short, but art is long."

*When asked when she started writing a daily journal, she said that in 1977 she was in London and might have had a small nervous breakdown, but no one noticed (she giggled at this and this was when I realized that she was incredibly witty). She thought it may be a good idea to start writing things down as they happened.

*As stated, Oats is very funny and delivered sarcasm and self-effacing humor with deadpan timing.

*"I don't have much of a personality. I'm like this glass of water (she holds it up). I'm quite transparent. I tend to take on the reflected color of the people that I am with. Today, since I am with Roger (Rosenblatt) I am witty and masochistic." Evidently, she and Roger (and their spouses) are great friends, so their was a lot of friendly banter.

*"I enjoy Colbert and John Stewart, but I don't write that way because I am a nice person. (long stoic pause). Just kidding. I'm just more cowardly."

*She claims that her characters are less verbose than others. She compared her characters to bottom feeders of the sea. They dart around and pick up pieces of others. "They are beneath the surface of consciousness."

*Joyce Carol Oats talks with her hands. It is almost as if she pantomimes every word that she speaks. When she rests her hands, she tends to hold one of them on her temple with the palm out...as if she is recharging it with energy from her brain.

*When asked to define tragic vision, she said, "It is a great artistic art form containing exemplary and archetypal characters."

*She spent a lot of time talking about how much she loves teaching. She teaches creative writing at Princeton. Here are a few of her favorite assignments:

*Write for 30 minutes without interruption. First time, shut the door and tell them that they are locked in and will not be allowed to leave. The next time open the door and tell them that they will all be evacuated.

*Take them to the theatre and have each of them stand in the blinding lights of the stage one at a time. It is to be intensely quiet. They are to stand there and imagine asking for forgiveness for something that they have done. They may take something from real or an imagined life and they may have a real or imagined audience. Then write it.

*Each student is to bring in a writing. The class then pretends that they are editors of a high end magazine (She reminds them that she is always the editor in chief). As editors, they are to treat each other's essays as if they are already accepted. Their job is to make them ready for publication. Therefore, everything that happen propels positive work in a positive environment.

*Oats desires to write more novellas. She said it is a difficult form because it is like landing a huge plane on a runway that is too thin and too short. She cites Henry James' Turn of the Screw and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice as the two quintessential novellas.

*When talking about development of characters, she confessed, "I had a person who talked too much and I had to be quite harsh with him." It was hilarious - like these are people that are completely out of her control.

*"I am just a housewife. Truly, I think I am the only woman at Princeton who cooks all our meals, washes our clothes and cleans my own home. People hear this and look at me with horror and pity."

*She suggests when writing dialogue, "Begin with two people you don't know and let them talk until you don't like them anymore. People tend to talk too much, so you will recognize it when they need to shut up."

*"I always want to know where they are going." Oats doesn't encourage stream of consciousness writing. "James Joyce was the only one that was successful at this...and Faulkner when he was drinking. We should leave it to them."

*Her graciousness with students was obvious with her choice of verb in the following sentence. "One's heart sinks a bit when a student hands in 40 pages."

*Her grandmother wanted Joyce's father to be a pianist, and she wanted Joyce to be a writer. So, the violinist in the The Gravedigger's Daughter is a combination of Joyce and her father. Her grandmother said on her deathbed as Joyce was crying, "Joyce, really, I don't mind. This novel is an homage to her grandmother, whom she adored.

*She takes long runs in the mornings, and it is here that she arranges the words as movies and chapters in her head. When things are somewhat formulated she writes frantically as to not forget. Joyce Carol Oats writes her works in longhand....unbelievable.

*When asked what is the difference between friendship and love, she quickly quipped, "Friends you keep a little longer."

*"It is one's fate to be misunderstood."

*"The nail that is the highest gets hammered first," was her address to handling criticism.

During the Q and A, I asked her to talk a bit more about her obvious love of teaching and who has she read recently - as in a new writer - with whom she was impressed. She responded that she went to a one room schoolhouse for elementary school and loved Mrs. Deets her teacher. From then on, she fell in love with every teacher she ever had - even through college. Oats declared, "Teaching was my primary impulse." As far as new writers? Because she is asked to review new works all the time which include former students, she chose to tip toe away from the question.

Afterwards, Joyce Carol Oats did a signing. I was only planning on having her sign an anthology of short stories, but I was so taken and fascinated with her that I bought the journal, which she claims not to have read all. "I lived it; I don't feel compelled to read it." She was gracious and asked about my university. She said she knew I was a teacher by the questions that I asked. I went from a peripheral to a devoted fan all in one afternoon. The power of personal presence is never to be taken for granted.