校友新闻| 安德鲁·R. Touhy wrangles the voices in '魔术师大礼帽的设计'

newbb电子平台校友 安德鲁·R. Touhy won Yemassee's inaugural fiction chapbook prize for his recently released "魔术师大礼帽的设计，" a book that he says emerged from listening to voices like Italo Calvino, 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯, 和卡夫卡—and notwithstanding all the other voices in the room spraying "hope and despair in all directions."

Touhy于1998年毕业，获得硕士学位.A. 在文学史上(除了M.A. in Creative Writing) from the 文理学院. 他现在在 写作沙龙 in San Francisco and Berkeley and is a prolific publisher of short stories.

A recipient of the San Francisco Browning Society’s Dramatic Monologue Award and Fourteen Hills Bambi Holmes Fiction Award, Touhy is also a nominee for inclusion in Best New American Voices.

Q&A与安德鲁·R. Touhy

Q: What was your inspiration for the new book?

A: "魔术师大礼帽的设计" is carved out of my larger full-length story manuscript "Secret of Mayo." I chose like stories in the fabulist tradition that I hoped would cleave/cohere in a single satisfying unit. The stories themselves—some as short as a paragraph—draw from such influences as Italo Calvino, 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯, 和卡夫卡, all of whom I was reading at the time, 深入思考. 他们的一些作品的大小, 他们采取的非常规形式, their unorthodox approach to narrative—all intrigued and excited me. 仍然让我兴奋.

Q: And what was the biggest challenge in writing it? (给俄亥俄州其他作家的建议?)

A: The biggest obstacle to any piece of writing—including a book-sized piece of writing—is butt to chair. Telling yourself day in and day out that the only question worth asking, 我喜欢理查德·鲍什, is, “我今天写了吗??" A lot of voices get in the room when you sit down to engage in any creative act. Most of them spray hope and despair in all directions. 诀窍, 据我所知, 然后练习, 是试图消失在这个世界里, 进入句子. The challenge is to commit to this time, and then accept that whatever you do in that time is the praying, 是写作. 随着时间的推移, 耐心, 形成的东西, perhaps beautiful and satisfying to you, 将形成. Talent is a long patience said Chekhov. I'd say patience is a long talent, too. I give myself permission (sometimes grudgingly, sometimes happily) every day to write, 和失败, 写得更好.

你的专业/学位是什么, 还有未成年人或证书, and what’s your current vocation and avocation?

A:我选了M.A. 文学史. I wrote my thesis on Raymond Carver's work, 他的短篇小说, with the guidance/mentorship of Darrell Spencer—a wonderful fiction writer and teacher and human being. All the while I was studying literary history, I was also taking courses in creative writing, 一开始的诗歌 马克·哈利迪, and then fiction, with (the late) Jack Matthews, Darrell, and 琼·康纳. 我差一点以M的成绩毕业.A. 在创意写作方面也是如此. I teach creative writing now in San Francisco and Berkeley, adult education at 写作沙龙. I have blood-money gigs, as any writer does, but they're less interesting to mention. Since I write, my avocation is my vocation, and vice versa. 我喜欢骑摩托车. 花园. Yoga (you're forced to practice when you move to California). 烹饪. Block my son's karate kicks and chops.

Q: Who were your favorite professors and how did they make an impact on your life?

克罗尔斯一家山姆 and Susan), David Bergdahl, Dean McWilliams, the above mentioned fiction writers and poet. Certainly they made a huge impact on my life. 他们对手艺的奉献, be it scholarly work or teaching or writing or throwing good parties. Their intelligence and knowledge and easy generosity with both. They taught me what they knew and made me want, 通过他们的榜样, to ignite feeling and dedication in others. I try—with each class I plan and teach and revise—to do just this.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with any of your faculty?

A:比我想要的少. But I did spam them with a group email when "Designs" was released.

Q: What was your ah-ha moment at OHIO—that point where you said to yourself, “I’ve got this!”?

A: I'm not sure I had an ah-ha moment, precisely. I had a lot of uh-oh moments—many more of those. 但最后, 或者一直都是, I was growing into my roles and positions: graduate student, 作文老师, 文学杂志的联合编辑, 俄亥俄州东南部居民. When it came time to write and complete my thesis, I was ready—charged to do the work and pleased to share it with my principals. It was awarded a department prize that year, which I'm very proud of. 拿着这个奖, 还有别人对我写作的评价, 我的方法, 我的思想, 我几乎觉得自己像个同事. 我是多么兴奋啊?

Q:  What was the hardest hill you had to climb (not counting Jeff Hill) at OHIO? And how did you overcome challenges or obstacles in your path?

A:冬天;)

Q: What are your favorite OHIO memories?

A:那么多. 但这是人民的问题. The close-knit group we formed, the relationships—most of which continue today. People are my memories, OHIO the landscape that offered them up to me.

Q: What’s the one thing you would tell a new OHIO student not to miss? 

A:哦，天哪. 你的生活. Don't miss your life—and these four years or two years or whatever years at OHIO are a huge part of that. 你会回头看, 也许不会马上, 这可能需要更长的时间, 思考，也许说, “嘿，这是另一回事. Who was that person in that place and time—and how the heck do I get back to them?" I would also say not to miss the Burrito Buggy, if it's still parked there on the corner of Court and Union.