Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Kick back with a selection from Drunken Boat's tribute to great American writer, Barry Hannah, DB 16, Winter 2012. M. O. Walsh's beautifully honest rendering of his experiences as one of Hannah's students is an incredible treat and a great starting point for delving into some of Hannah's writing as your relax and enjoy your holiday.
"It was a cold day in February, and we’d barely gotten out of our jackets, the other students and I, when Barry said, “Ok, let’s start with this story by Walsh.”
He held the manuscript up before the class. It was a short four-pager I’d written for the express purpose of impressing him. I thought I’d done well and was proud. My plot about an oversexed wife was similar to his Airships story “Love Too Long”, so I thought he might like it. The stylistic voice I’d managed to pull off was also similar to his story “Love Too Long,” which I thought was a good move. And, finally, the trumpet blast proclamation of an ending was a direct nod to his classic story . So, I was ready for praise.
“Ok,” Barry told the class. “There’s two things about this story. The first,” he said, “is that it’s one-dimensional.” He paused and thought for a moment. “The second is that it’s uninteresting.”
I sat there stunned.
“All right,” he said. “That’s enough about that one. Let’s move on.”
And we did."
M. O. Walsh is a fiction writer out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies and other publications. He is currently the Director of the Creative Writing Workshop at The University of New Orleans and also directs the The Yokshop Writers Conference in Oxford, MS. His debut novel, My Sunshine Away, is tentatively set for release in February, 2015. Find out more about Walsh on his website, mowalsh.com.
Click here to read "Another Harkening Face"
Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Kick back with a selection from Drunken Boat's tribute to great American writer, Barry Hannah, DB 16, Winter 2012. M. O. Walsh's beautifully honest rendering of his experiences as one of Hannah's students is an incredible treat and a great starting point for delving into some of Hannah's writing as your relax and enjoy your holiday.
"It was a cold day in February, and we’d barely gotten out of our jackets, the other students and I, when Barry said, “Ok, let’s start with this story by Walsh.”
He held the manuscript up before the class. It was a short four-pager I’d written for the express purpose of impressing him. I thought I’d done well and was proud. My plot about an oversexed wife was similar to his Airships story “Love Too Long”, so I thought he might like it. The stylistic voice I’d managed to pull off was also similar to his story “Love Too Long,” which I thought was a good move. And, finally, the trumpet blast proclamation of an ending was a direct nod to his classic story . So, I was ready for praise.
“Ok,” Barry told the class. “There’s two things about this story. The first,” he said, “is that it’s one-dimensional.” He paused and thought for a moment. “The second is that it’s uninteresting.”
I sat there stunned.
“All right,” he said. “That’s enough about that one. Let’s move on.”
And we did."
M. O. Walsh is a fiction writer out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies and other publications. He is currently the Director of the Creative Writing Workshop at The University of New Orleans and also directs the The Yokshop Writers Conference in Oxford, MS. His debut novel, My Sunshine Away, is tentatively set for release in February, 2015. Find out more about Walsh on his website, mowalsh.com.
Click here to read "Another Harkening Face"