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ThaddeusRutkowski.com
Thaddeus Rutkowski
grew
up in central Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Cornell University
and The Johns Hopkins University. Nominated five times for a Pushcart
Prize, he is the author of the novels Tetched (Behler
Publications) and Roughhouse (Kaya
Press). Both books were finalists for an Asian American Members'
Choice Literary Award.
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Interview
with Thaddeus Rutkowski
The
Short Review:
How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collection?
Thaddeus Rutkowski: The brief answer is about five
years. My collection isn’t the result of constant, steady work. There’s
stopping and starting--writing in the mornings and on weekends. I have a day
job and teach part-time, plus I do things with my family.
I’m not a slow writer, but I’m a
perfectionist. I revise each of my stories a few times; I fill in gaps and
rearrange sections for more coherence. Sometimes, I’ll let a story sit for a
while (weeks, months) and come back to it with what I hope is a fresh eye.
There are 49 "flash fictions" in my
new "novel," Haywire. I began writing
these pieces in 2005 at the Ragdale colony, after my previous novel was
finished. Haywire was published at
the end of 2010.
TSR:
Did you
have a collection in mind when you were writing them?
TR: Yes, I always have a longer work in
mind when I write short stories. I use basically the same approach in all of
the stories—the same voice, tone, point of view, regardless of the subject
matter—so
that the collection will be unified. Still, each story is complete in itself
and can be read separately.
TSR:
How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
TR: When I have a number of completed
stories, I arrange them in rough chronological order. That’s not the order in
which they were written, but the order in which the action takes place. My book
Haywire covers a whole lifetime, from
childhood, through college years, through life as a single guy in the city, to
life as a parent.
In putting together this book, I
found there were some stories that just didn’t belong, so, with some
reluctance, I left them out. I had a few readers who helped me make the choices.
I still don’t know if all the choices were right. I think the book might have
been tighter without a few of the existing "chapters."
TSR:
What
does the word "story"
mean to you?
TR: I respect the elements of
traditional stories: a plot that shows cause and effect, characters who develop
and become enlightened by the end, realistic scenes and situations. But my own
stories tend to be more experimental, perhaps because of my writing process. I
usually begin with a strong image (I was a painting major as an undergrad) or a
remembered incident. I build on that image with related scenes. I string these
pieces together until I have a sequence that makes sense, that shows
development and resolution. However, the cause-and-effect may not be as
apparent as in a conventional story.
TSR:
Do you have a reader in mind when you write stories?
TR: You know, I spent many years doing
open readings and poetry slams in downtown New York. I got used to reading to
audiences that had to be reached immediately, with strong statements. That’s
why my prose tends to exist on a sort of peak note. When I was in a peer group
with Kate Christensen, she commented that my work is always on a plateau. I
don’t spend much time in the valleys.
I may still have those bar and café
audiences in mind when I write. I try to determine how the prose would sound
when read aloud. If it would sound good aloud, maybe it’s worth keeping.
TSR: Is
there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read your collection, anything at all?
TR: I’d ask if any of the material
struck a chord or rang true. I’d like to know if the situations I describe
affect readers the same way they affect me, or my narrator. If there is any
overlap, I know I’ve succeeded to some degree.
TSR: How does
it feel knowing that people are buying your book?
TR: Are people buying my books? I hope they are. I try to let
people know about my writing by giving readings, traveling around, and updating
my web site. And I know my publisher, Starcherone, and its partner, Dzanc Books,
do a lot to publicize their titles. In any case, the best thing—the most
fun thing—for me is getting out in public and reading to people, talking
to people, or giving workshops. All of it is related to my books.
TSR:
What are you working on now?
TR: I’m working on some new short
fictions. These are in the same vein as my published material, but they contain
new incidents. Eventually, I’ll have enough of them to shape into a longer
work.
TSR:
What are
the three most recent short story collections you've read?
TR:
I’m not sure if these are the most recent, but these stick
in my mind:
The
Bridegroom, by Ha Jin. These stories say a lot about the China of the
recent past. I haven’t been to China proper, where my mother grew up. So I’m
curious about the place and its people. Also, I admire Ha Jin’s clear, loaded
writing.
Close
Range: Wyoming Stories, by Annie Proulx. This collection has the story Brokeback Mountain
in it. There is also at least one flash fiction, which shows the author’s
versatility.
In
Watermelon Sugar, by Richard Brautigan. This isn’t really a collection of
stories; it’s a book of flash fictions or prose poems. I reread it recently,
after having read it in high school, and the book seemed entirely new and fresh
to me.
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