National Book Festival: Which Faction Are You?

I met Joyce Carol Oates. In real life. I actually spoke to her. And, even more miraculous, she spoke to me. It happened unexpectedly--because of the extra hour it took us to find a place to park, we'd missed her speaking. We (Jen Moyers, another English teacher, and I) watched D. T. Max speak about his experiences with David Foster Wallace as he wrote Wallace's biography and then wandered over to the food trucks on the far end of the National Mall only to discover on our way there that Oates' line for signatures was disgracefully short. We jumped right in line, and before we knew it, we were there in her presence, giddy and bumbling as we tried to convey the phenomenal impact that she has had on our lives and the lives of our students. She was gracious and kind and she asked us where we were from and we rambled on about books and stories that we'd loved. It was a glorious moment.

Later that afternoon, I had the privilege of seeing Khaled Hosseini speak. He was interviewed by one of NPR's Fresh Air hosts, and he talked about his latest novel, And the Mountains Echoed, as well as about his experiences in general, his novels, and his perspective on the world. He was a phenomenal speaker and it was such an honor to stand with thousands of other people who were there to show support and to listen to his wisdom and brilliance. When asked about his characters and morality, Hosseini said, "He's a good guy. He's a bad guy. To me, that's not interesting. It's the coexistence of those two entities within a person that is interesting." Hosseini talked about moral ambiguity and about the quest to do what is right. He spoke of how his works have evolved into more complex explorations of people who are neither all good nor all bad, but who are capable of both.

When asked about his writing process, Hosseini spoke about the images that come to him and the way that those images spark stories. For example, he said that Kite Runner came from the image of two boys participating in a kite running competition. Someone asked him about those images and how long he lets them simmer or resonate before acting on them. As he reflected on the writing process, Hosseini said, "It's more an act of discovery than an act of creation. It's as if the story is already there, waiting to be discovered." He spoke about the hopes that he has for a world where people better understand each other, and he commented with humility and grace on the honor he has had to speak on behalf of the Afgani people who are so poorly understood and frequently exploited by the western world. His words were powerful and they resonated with authenticity and sincerity. I cannot wait to read his latest novel!

This all occurred on Sunday of the book festival, on Saturday, we took 18 students from our high school to participate in the book fair. They were excited to be in DC and to see famous authors, but most of them were primarily there to see Veronica Roth. We all read Divergent by Roth as our school read last year, and it was well-received by the students, many of whom plowed through that novel at light speed and then read Insurgent as quickly as they could get their hands on a copy of it. To read more about how I used Divergent in class, see this post. The students waited over 2 hours in line without a single complaint to get Veronica Roth's autograph. They were thrilled to meet her and said that she was kind and personable.

We all went over to the teen tent (amid a torrential downpour) to see Roth speak. Her tent was packed to the brim. As she came on stage, the kids screamed and screamed like she was a rock star. Students chanted and shouted things like, "We love you, Veronica!" It was such a joy to see how much admiration and love teenagers could have for an author.

Roth spoke about the way that Tris, her main character, grew as she herself grew as a writer. She talked about her process, and how she wrote the scenes with Tris and Four first because she knew that the story was one that would be told through them together. She gave the kids lots of good advice about writing, including telling them to choose carefully to whom they gave their precious creative work, so that they would find people who would support and encourage them while also ensuring that they could grow.

Prior to our Divergent adventures, my group got to listen to Matthew Quick speak. I haven't had a chance to read his work yet, but after listening to him speak, I can't wait to read his latest works. He talked about being a voice-driven writer, and he talked about the way that he discovered the story by listening to the voice of his narrator. He also talked about Silver Linings Playbook, and how while he would have described the book in many ways, he would never have said that it was a book about mental health. However, he said, he was so happy that his novel had brought about some open and honest discussions about mental health and the way that our society is unwilling to confront it.

Both days were so inspirational, and it was one of the many times that I counted myself lucky and thrilled to be living so close to DC. It was an awesome experience that neither I nor our students will soon forget. (Photos and links to the Library of Congress  video recordings coming soon!)

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