An interview with short story writer Tania Hershman

The Milestone: How did you step in the realm of writing? Which one is your first story? Where was it published?

Author: I have always loved to write, ever since I was a small child. I started my first book when I was seven or eight years old, but fortunately no-one ever saw it! I started writing short stories again more seriously about 15 years ago and began going to writing workshops. My first published story is called Doing it in Eden and it was published in The Beat, an online 'zine, in 2004.

The Milestone: What’s the difference between short story and flash fiction?

 Author: This is a hard question. Until recently I would have said that flash fiction is simply a very very short story, under 1000 words, and with no minimum length. But I have been reading a fantastic short story collection, Esther Stories by Peter Orner, which I am reviewing for the journal I edit, The Short Review. He has many very short stories and yet they don't feel like “flash” fiction in the way I would have thought. As I am going to say in my review, his short short stories have a weight and density to them, as if there are many, many layers in between each line.

            Now, that is not to say that flash fiction doesn't contain far more than the sum of its words, which a great flash story does, but somehow flash fiction – for me, at least – has something peculiar to its length, some “flash” characteristic in that it does something that can't be done in a longer story. Perhaps something to do with a playfulness of language, oddness that might not be sustainable in anything over 1000 words. Gosh, this is a hard question. I think I will stop there!

The Milestone: Recently the Salt publication has brought out your “ White Road and other stories”? Tell us about the book. How was your experience?

Author: The publication of The White Road and Other Stories in September 2008 was a dream come true, a dream I had had since childhood, so one that I held onto for over 30 years. I had no agent, so submitted three stories myself to Salt Publishing at the beginning of 2007. They got in touch a few months later to ask for all my short stories, and then in June 2007 they asked if they could publish the whole collection. I said yes, of course! It took 15 months until the book was published, and I spent much of that time in a daze, not truly believing it was going to happen until I finally held the book in my hands.

            Being a published author is an amazing experience, a life-changing one, but I would be lying if I did not mention that in some ways it has been stressful. My publisher is small, they don't have a publicity person, so I have had to become a saleswoman as well as an author, doing everything I can to promote my own book. Even carrying copies around and selling it to people! I am not a natural salesperson, so it's been something I've had to learn. My instinct was to give it away for free, but that would have cost me a lot of money. So I had to stop doing that!

            More people have read my book than I ever dreamed, and it has been absolutely amazing when they want to tell me what they think about the stories. I have been very lucky that my book has received a number of reviews and many of them have been very kind indeed. I always thought I was writing just for myself but when, as I did last week for the first time, I visit a book group and they tell me they enjoyed one story or another, I find it miraculous. That something I dreamed up speaks in some way to another person. It's wonderful.

The Milestone: Does any personal experience inspire you to write a story? How ideas visit you? Do you write regularly?

Author: I don't write directly from personal experience, I never have. I find my own life uninteresting, if I start writing something autobiographical it makes me cringe, I just can't. But of course, everything I am and everything I have experienced informs my writing, the way I write and what I write about. I love science, I studied physics and maths, and many of the stories in my book were inspired by articles from the weekly British science magazine New Scientist. Now I am beginning as writer-in-residence at Bristol University's Faculty of Science, with the aim of writing short stories inspired by being with the scientists in the labs.

            I also use prompts to kick-start my writing, often with my online writing groups, and sometimes just for myself. I take words and phrases from various sources such as poems and articles, and use those to get me started. It's very helpful.

            I am embarrassed to admit that I have only just started carrying a notebook and pen around with me everywhere I go and jotting down things I see and ideas that come into my head. I always knew that is what a writer “should” do but never thought I could work that way. Well, it's a great idea, otherwise you forget everything. Ideas come to me all the time, first lines and images, and without writing them down they are mostly lost.

            I don't write every day, not right now. I am quite busy judging three short story competitions, have just been guest editing an issue of Southword literary journal, and I run The Short Review, with over 40 reviewers around the world, so not that much time to write, as well as spending time in the labs at the University. But for me a lot of writing goes on in my head, mulling over things, letting them stew for a while, not writing them down until I am ready. But that is partly an excuse – I wish I was writing more often. I do write very very short stories, though, so it's different from a novelist who has to get a certain number of words down otherwise there is no book.

The Milestone: The history of art is the history of technique- is it true? Would you classify short story in any particular art form?

Author:I am afraid I don't understand this question at all. Perhaps it is because my background is in science and not art. Short stories to me are a “form” all of their own, they don't fit under any other umbrella other than the umbrella of art that uses words as its tools.

The Milestone: What should be the ideal length of a short story?

Author: Whatever length that particular story demands. I believe each story has its own length and that very often many writers over-write, and don't realise how few words it actually takes to write a short story – or a novel or any other form for that matter. Writing flash fiction, you realise how much can be said in 500 words, or even 50, and for me it has really made me question every word, whether it is really necessary. I read stories of all lengths, and while I love very short stories, if a story keeps me gripped, I will happily read page after page. There is no objective “ideal” length, in my opinion. 

The Milestone: Do you believe that translation can expose the inner thought process of a poet? How many stories of yours have been published so far in other languages?

Author: I recently had six of my flash stories translated into Croatian, which was wonderful, even though I can't read them! I have done translation myself, from Hebrew into English, but I was translating non-fiction so I really can't say anything about exposing the inner thought process. I always feel sad when I can't read a writer's work in the original language. For example, I adore Polish poet and Nobel Prize winner Wisława Szymborska's poetry, but I have only read it in English so do I adore her or her translator? I don't know the answer to that.

The Milestone: Do you believe that writers should have social responsibilities? If yes, how they should discharge it?

Author: No. I believe a writer should feel free to write whatever he or she wants, and express themselves without any concern for who might read their work.

The Milestone: What is the present trend of fiction writing in your country? Tell us about the experiments that writers like are doing on short stories.

Author: I have only been living back in the UK for 9 months, before that I lived in Israel for 15 years, so it is a little hard for me to talk about UK trends. One thing I have noticed is far more attention here on very short stories. One of the major short story competitions, The Bridport Prize - which is open to entrants from anywhere in the world - has this year added a new category, for short stories of 250 words or less. Venerable UK literary magazine, Ambit, just held a 200-word short story competition for the first time, and there are several new UK literary magazines such as Fractured West looking just for such very short fiction. BBC Radio 4, which broadcasts short stories every week in its Afternoon Reading slot, will be broadcasting a week of my own flash fiction at the end of June, with three stories per day, which is, I believe, the first time this has happened, so that is very exciting!

The Milestone: Who is your favourite novelist? There are many Indian writers who are writing novels in English. What’s your opinion about them?

Author: I have favourite writers, rather than favourite novelists, and am adding new favourites all the time. Some of those I have been enjoying recently are Scottish writers A L Kennedy and Janice Galloway, but I read and love so many short stories, that it is hard to pick favourites. I have read Indian writers such as Vikram Seth, whose books I enjoy very much. I never take a writer's nationality into consideration when I read a book; for me it is purely about whether their writing speaks to me. I am open to reading anything by anyone from anywhere!

The Milestone: What was your reaction when you won Commonwealth short story competition?

Author: First, I should point out that I won the European region, not the whole competition. I was, of course, very surprised and absolutely delighted. This is another wonderful example of how very short fiction is gaining in popularity, since this competition is for short stories under 600 words. Going to the awards ceremony was a thrill, and having my short story recorded for broadcast is always something I enjoy, having a professional actor bringing my words to life. This is a competition that is free to enter and they really are promoting new writers and new writing, I encourage everyone to enter!

The Milestone: What’s the future of serious type of literature when more and more people are drawn to pulp fiction and soap operas?  

Author:Ah, now, this is an ongoing discussion I have with many writer friends. I don't think the distinction is between “serious” and “non-serious” because there is literary fiction that is very funny. Rather the distinction is between commercial and less commercial. Yes, books written by celebrities and by authors such as Dan Brown are those that seem to sell very well. I don't think anyone should be dictating to readers what they “should” read, and no-one should judge those who want to read for light-hearted entertainment. After all, I love to watch soap operas on television so who am I to criticise others?

            I do feel that publishers could do more to make literary fiction appealing to more readers rather than just assuming that it is only read by a small minority, most of whom are writers themselves. But publishing is a business, it is not a charity, and I understand that the concern of the major publishing houses is to make a profit from their books. That's why I am so glad there are publishers like my own, Salt Publishing, a small press who take “risks” publishing literary fiction which may not make them any money. I don't think I would have a book were it not for small presses like Salt, and there are many, many of them. You sometimes have to look quite hard to find their books, since they can't afford to pay bookstores to include them in promotions, but I hope that if you love to read great writing, you will make the effort. You will be rewarded!

                                   Poems

Blue Sky Thinking

Gillian Clarke

Let’s do this again, ground the planes for a while

and leave the runways to the racing hare,

the evening sky to Venus and a moon

so new it’s hardly there.

Miss the deal, the meeting, the wedding in Brazil .

Leave the shadowless Atlantic to the whale,

its song the only sound sounding the deep

except the ocean swaying on its stem.

Let swarms of jets at quiet airports sleep.

The sky’s not been this clean since I was born.

Nothing’s overhead but pure blue silence

and skylarks spiralling into infinite space,

a pair of red kites flaunting in the air.

No mark, no plane-trail, jet-growl anywhere.

RENAISSANCE                                                     

Satish Verma

Will you tell me what it was

the unknown of the known ?

When you step into the eyes of stangers

you start talking without uttering a single word.

Give me back the body,

of dark pink matter

to understand the god’s will.

He was sitting in field of sugarcane.

The petrol burns with hate

in the necks of panthers.

Tiger,tiger I look at my son coming back

after encounter.

The bleeding revolution has overturned

tomorrow. No body knows where we are heading.

The babies flick like tender candles

inside the saints.

Feature 

A Writer’s Eden by the Heart of Delhi

Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike

Transatlantic Blues

It was close to midnight when the airport taxi dropped me off on a quiet tree-lined boulevard, called the Anandagram, as I would later find out. Before me stood the gate of Sanskriti Kendra, a place I had been eager to visit in the past six months. I didn’t notice the compound’s loveliness – until the next morning. Sanskriti Kendra is an artist complex; India ’s most popular and probably oldest.

It is located along the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road on the outskirts of

Anyway, that midnight as I lugged my bag to my studio all I saw was an ordinary well-kept compound fringed by plenty trees and shrubs. Nothing more. No thanks to a transatlantic flight that buzzed with Spanish and Hindi almost on end till touchdown; to the clamminess in my armpits that comes with layovers and long-hauls. Not to the tingly air pressure in my eardrums, otherwise called airplane ear, or ear barotraumas, in medical parlance. 

Soft Waves, Soft Breezes

Then I stumbled out the following morning, gritty-eyed, like a man gripped by hangover. Jetlag, precisely. And lo – my senses brightened at once. It was not the sun’s glare, too soft on the skin. Not the fragrant breeze which fanned my face. No, it was the amazing shawl of green that perked me up. The serenity was subduing! It was like waking up on the beach at dawn; soft waves, soft breezes. No hassles.

I stood awhile on my veranda, unfolded my arms, like a crow. I shut my eyes then inhaled. Frangipani scent filled my nostrils when I breathed out. Smiling dreamily, I imagined I had just discovered freedom: the freedom to renew myself, like a phoenix. To create, to re-create.

That’s how Sanskriti Kendra can make you feel on your first day, particularly if you crave a short escape from familiar metropolitan sounds. Or crave a moment’s indulgence in its lush gardens of birdsong and daydream. If you wish to awaken creativity and stir your Muse towards expected ends, Sanskriti Kendra is the right place.

Banyan, Terracotta, and Denizens

The first thing you would notice once you walk into the sprawling grounds of Sanskriti Kendra, apart from the slow music of serenity which stirs at once within your soul, is the mighty banyan tree with its sinewy roots clenching the earth, like fists. Like giant dreadlocks. The first time I saw such a colossal tree was in Miami , in 2008, and I posed for a photograph right in front of it.

The second thing is the two statuesque terracotta horses on your left. Beyond the equestrian figures are other imposing statues of deities and animals laid out in a pavilion. The third is the neatly-shaved lawn skirting the network of cobbled pathways and terraces. The fourth is the fine simplicity of the ochre buildings, and, finally, the other denizens: squirrels playing around, the birds flitting in and out of a thousand branches, butterflies and dragonflies surfing the air.

Timeless Objet d'art

The other things you will begin to notice as you tour the verdant grounds is the plethora of objet d'art – figurines, vases, various pieces of artistic, cultural and religious values – each piece remarkably placed at door-sides, verandas, in the gardens, on the cobbled pathway, by the lily-ponds, and some in the artists’ studio. They are made of ceramics, terracotta, woodcraft, metal work, and even textile. Most of these objects have discernible features and forms; some look charming; some haunting – like the horned head hanging by the door of Studio 7.

Then behind the artists’ lodge is a potter’s shed, where some of these objects might have been fashioned. In Sanskriti Kendra there is indeed so much to saturate not only your writers’ senses, but also attune your mind to the riches of India; her industriousness. Her timeless dedication to arts and craft.

Cultivating Dreams

Sanskriti Kendra roughly translates to a centre for the process of cultivating. Sanskriti means 'the process of cultivating' and Kendra means a ‘centre’ – both in Sanskrit, an Indo-Aryan language regarded as scared in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is one of the 22 official languages of India . Sanskirit Kendra is run by the Sanskriti Pratishthan founded in 1979 by Mr. O.P. Jain, a non-academic but big-hearted enthusiast of arts and culture.

Sanskriti Kendra's philosophy is influenced by antiquity, artistic merit, and cultural significance, and its myriad activities revolve around art, craft, literature, social work, and the performing arts, which the Centre has pursued and promoted with a passion that is essentially Indian, over two decades. Hundreds of artists of various nationalities, and dexterous craftsmen from almost every part of India , have enjoyed residencies here.

Two Nigerian writers have resided here before me. The beauty of the Centre can be appreciated in how arts and culture overlap harmoniously and enrich each other in great degrees, thereby infusing a kind of synergy uncommon with other residencies, with the artist attracting an unexpected boon. Another beauty is Sanskriti Kendra’s capacity to create a pseudo-Eden ambience where man and animals blend unobtrusively into each other’s daily life, without ill will or threat, preserving the flora’s peace.

Indeed, unlike most residences the world over, this idyllic writer’s complex houses three indoor museums, an open-air museum and amphitheatre, an art gallery, excluding its rich library and spacious residential studios, and a sprawling luxuriant garden. The three museums are: The Museum of Indian Terracotta, which is home to over 2,000 objects of art made primarily of terracotta. The

Veggie, Red Wine and Sweets

Later in the evening, over red wine and veggie snacks topped off with mithai – Indian crunchy yet creamy sweets, Mr. O.P. Jain, the septuagenarian founder of the Centre,told all the artists present that his dream has always been to ‘help cultivate an environment for the preservation and promotion of India's artistic and cultural resources.’

He recounts how he started the residency programme, inspired by a trip to US, how he started collecting art pieces many years ago, which typify the creative and artistic urges of the common people, and how he decided to put his soul into the achievement of an ideal artist village. He also intimates us of the significance of terracotta in the Indian household and life, although, sadly, capitalism has begun to erode this cultural legacy due to its inherent acquisitive materialism.

Then he tells us about the forthcoming Sanskriti Award holding in Indian Habitat Centre, near the soul-soothing Lodi Garden , and how the award is aimed at discovering, inspiring and honouring young Indian talents between 20 and 35 years, who have excelled in the fields of Literature, the Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Journalism and Social/Cultural Achievement.

We feel awed by Mr. Jain’s passion and vision. We become speechless momentarily, and start to sip our drinks and nibble snacks once again. We soon stand up to leave. Darkness has dyed the night black; a frosty chill quivers in the air. I pause, just briefly, to refill my wineglass – one swill for the road. And smiling vaguely to myself, I think, ‘Sir, you have surely cultivated a desire in me to take my writing more seriously,’ and then hasten off to catch up with the fellow artists.