This semester, we have been lucky enough to have some friendly, encouraging writers come in and speak to our class about their writing process, their stories, and give some helpful advice for those of us who want to go into writing. I sort of got my dream-team (Daniel Abraham and Melinda Snodgrass) as guests to the series, but they write the kind of fiction I like best.
Are there any authors you would have liked to see as a part of this series? Especially if they are still alive and live in New Mexico, but they don't have to be.
I think the selection this semester was great - everyone seemed to enjoy their time their and answering whatever questions came their way. The jewel (in my humble opinion) would have been to meet George RR Martin! Almost half of the authors we got to meet in class seem to have met George, talked to him, or better yet - work with him! It would have been a somewhat drastic change of events to have talked to those authors that are working hard to "move up" and then to talk to authors that are truly living their dream of being popularly known as "writers". I wonder what George would have told us differently than the other authors did. And I wonder what advice he'd give not only to students like us, but to the other authors, or teachers for that matter. Granted, he's not the "only great author of our time", but as for New Mexico, he's all everyone seems to be talking about, and he lives right in our backyard - a fact I was hardly aware about!!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I agree with Jaime that I wish we could have met George RR Martian. He would have been a wonderful addition to our class and I feel that he would be a person who has a lot of experience especially in terms of making it big. I wish I knew of more New Mexican authors but I don't know of any other than Leslie Marmon Silko, who also would have been a great addition to our class. As for Leslie Marmon Silko I feel that she would give us a lot of insight on the Navajo and Native American culture that many Americans don't know about.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have liked to meet Rudolfo Anaya. I think he just became too famous and doesn’t have the time or desire to come visit a class at UNM, but I might be wrong. He was my assigned author for the midterm paper and I feel like he would have so much to say about becoming a writer. He did give a lot of interviews in the 80’s and 90’s but when I was doing research I didn’t come across many current interviews. This might have just been because I only had the chance to look at one box from the Center of Southwest Research.
ReplyDeleteIs George RR Martin New Mexican, or does he just live here? I know he is the author for Game of Thrones and it would have been wonderful to have met him. Like you guys mentioned, some of our guest authors told us they work with him, which is awesome!
I am just really grateful for this class and the people we got to meet.
My dream would have been to meet Roger Zelazny. I have read a lot of his work and didn't even realize he lived in Sante Fe for a long time. Unfortunately he also died in Sante Fe. If he had still been alive, he would have been amazing to talk to. He is one of the people who hung out with George RR Martin, Melinda Snodgrass and Daniel Abraham and worked with them as well. He pioneered a lot of new Sci fi and fantasy writing with a focus on the inner psyche and I would have LOVED to get in his head. I learned so much about him that i didn't' know while doing the research project and I am so glad to have done so, because he jumped much higher on my list of favorite authors! I'm Jealous that my father had met him!
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