9
This article was downloaded by: [FU Berlin] On: 10 November 2014, At: 01:56 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmnw20 Telling and Not Telling: A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn Tom Ue a a Department of English Language and Literature , University College London , London , United Kingdom Published online: 25 Jun 2012. To cite this article: Tom Ue (2013) Telling and Not Telling: A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn, New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 10:2, 118-125, DOI: 10.1080/14790726.2012.693101 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2012.693101 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

Telling and Not Telling: A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn

  • Upload
    tom

  • View
    213

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

This article was downloaded by: [FU Berlin]On: 10 November 2014, At: 01:56Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

New Writing: The International Journalfor the Practice and Theory of CreativeWritingPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmnw20

Telling and Not Telling: A Conversationwith Marthe JocelynTom Ue aa Department of English Language and Literature , UniversityCollege London , London , United KingdomPublished online: 25 Jun 2012.

To cite this article: Tom Ue (2013) Telling and Not Telling: A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn,New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 10:2,118-125, DOI: 10.1080/14790726.2012.693101

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2012.693101

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Telling and Not Telling: A Conversationwith Marthe Jocelyn

Tom UeDepartment of English Language and Literature, University CollegeLondon, London, United Kingdom

Toronto-born Marthe Jocelyn is the award-winning author and illustrator of over25 books for children and teenagers. Her range includes board books, picture books,chapter books, novels, and non-fiction. Her picture book Hannah’s Collections wasshort-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration. Her novelMable Riley won the inaugural TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. Jocelynis the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work.For more information, visit her website: www.marthejocelyn.com. This interviewexplores Jocelyn’s views about children’s writing and her writing process behindFolly (2010), a finalist for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for YoungPeople. It examines her views about narrative focalisation, Victorian writing, and herresearch into the Foundling Hospital. Jocelyn responded to my questions throughtwo emails on September 24 and 27, 2011.

TU: Congratulations on Folly! You worked for many years as a toy de-signer before turning your hand to writing. Did your work informyour understanding of children and children’s literature? How so?

MJ: There is no direct connection between my work as a toy designer andmy books * except that the illustrations I make are cut from paperand fabric, constructed to look almost like toys. But my understandingof children (apart from being a parent) is that toys and books are bothcreated to urge the user to imagine small worlds of their own.

TU: Mable Riley won the inaugural TD Canadian Children’s LiteratureAward, and you have received the Vicky Metcalf Award for a body ofwriting in children’s literature. Have these recognitions changed yourexperience as a writer?

MJ: One of a writer’s (or just this writer’s?) darkest clouds is the fear ofmediocrity. Winning an award does a splendid job of fending off thatgloom for a certain period of time, allowing for a wee burst of energybefore the next storm gathers.

TU: As the author of children’s literature in many genres, including someself-illustrated books, what do you see as some of the similarities anddifferences writing board books, picture books, and novels? What are

INT. J. FOR THE PRACTICE AND THEORY OF CREATIVE WRITING, 2013Vol. 10, No. 2, 118� 125, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2012.693101# 2013 Taylor & Francis

118

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

some of the similarities and differences between writing for childrenand for adults?

MJ: These two questions are worthy of an article unto themselves . . . butbriefly, apart from the number of words involved (board books 0�30,picture books 20�300, novels 20,000�50,000) the idea is to offer some-thing for the reader to discover, something that a child is exactly readyto notice and get excited or more curious about. A board book reflectsmoments in a toddler’s day, a picture book is an adventure sized fora small child, and a novel opens doors and windows to the rest ofthe world. As for adult books, I am not an expert. I’ve never writtenfor adults and doubt that I will. As a reader, I notice that I am drawn togood teen literature rather than that written for adults * thesubject matter is just as complex, there is often less description,livelier dialogue, fewer bouts of exposition, and a powerful emotionalimpact.

TU: Has living and working in the artistically-vibrant community ofStratford, Ontario, affected your thinking about literature?

MJ: Although I have spent summers in Stratford for most of my life, I onlymoved here full time about three years ago. Before that, I lived inManhattan, which I have to say was even livelier than Stratford.However, passing a few weeks each year of my childhood inStratford, and seeing brilliant theatre, introduced me to the thrill ofsitting in one place and being taken utterly elsewhere. Books can dothat too.

TU: Drama appears in Folly in the form of an advertisement of a per-formance of The Vampire or Bride of the Isles! Tell us about the novel.

MJ: In twenty-five words or less? The story of Mary Finn, a country girlworking in a fine house in London, is told in alternating chapters withthat of James Nelligan, a foundling. Also speaking are Eliza, a fellowmaid of Mary, and Oliver, one of James’s teachers. Because this is aVictorian drama, the characters encounter separation, loss, seduction,lust, betrayal, despair, and hope.

TU: Mary tells us at the start of Folly: ‘I began exceeding ignorant, apartfrom what a girl can earn through family mayhem, a dead mother,a grim stepmother, and a sorrowful parting from home’ (2010: 1). Fairytale motifs recur in the novel as Mary admits, by its end: ‘There wereno more fairy-tale old ladies arriving in carriages. There were no for-giveness from wicked stepmothers. There were no second chances atmarrying the handsome prince or the other one, disguised as a frog’(2010: 228). To what extent did fairy tales affect your thinking in thenovel? Do you see Folly as resisting fairy tales?

A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn 119

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

MJ: I did not consider fairy tales while writing Folly, except imagining thatany familiarity that Mary might have with literature would most likelybe classic stories, known by even the illiterate. Her recognition that thecharacters in her own meagre life are reflected in fairy tale icons wasnot intentional during the writing, but one of those intuitive detailsthat I’m noticing only when you pointed it out!

TU: This novel is meticulously researched: from the Tetley Tea tin tothe description of the Foundling Hospital. You have explored thelatter in A Home for Foundlings. Tell us about your research for bothworks.

MJ: A Home for Foundlings is a non-fiction book about the history of theFoundling Hospital in London, England. I became obsessed with thatinstitution when I learned that my grandfather had been raised there.I dove into the research with the passion of a first-timer. The LondonMetropolitan Archives holds 800 LINEAR FEET (yes, that’s me shout-ing) OF PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL. I managed to read throughabout four feet, and had riches enough for what turned into twobooks, with Folly becoming a fictional version of what might havebeen my great-grandmother’s story. Apart from foundling-specificresearch, I had the whole Victorian world to learn about as well. Butbecause the abundance of material available about that era couldswallow a writer whole, it was best to write the story and only look uprequired details as they seemed necessary.

TU: Which comes first in your writing: the story or the history?

MJ: I absolutely put the story first. I know there are some librarianswho take particular delight in ferreting out the errors in fiction, butI believe that the forest is far more important than the gnat on the leafof a branch of one tree. Although I do my best to be accurate with thehistorical details, I cross my fingers every time that the story is strongenough to blur my lack of scholarship.

TU: Mary tells us:Somehow I knew there were a gulch between what got writ downabout history and what were remembered by the people who wentalong living it. No doubt the scholars checked their facts aboutbattles and such nonsense, but weren’t those battles fought by boyswho’d wished for their mams, or bought peppermints or armwrestled to win a bit of tobacco? Days went by, girls left home,children died, and who marked it all? (2010: 108)

How important do you see calling attention to and redressing thesegender and cultural imbalances in your writing?

MJ: I don’t think about anything so grand or ambitious as ‘redressing . . .gender and cultural imbalances’. I am looking at one character at

120 International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

a time, worrying about the particular story path she’s stumblingalong. Depending on where and when her path is unfolding, someof the bumps may be due to what we (from our distant view withhindsight) might call a cultural imbalance, but to her it’s just rottenluck that opportunities are limited or that she arrives at closed doors.

TU: There is a wonderful scene in the novel where you describe a Sundaymeal in which James and the children had ‘spectators’, some of whommade insensitive remarks. As much as they demonstrate sympathyfor these children, these spectators are entertained by what they see.To what extent do you see the need to demonstrate and to integratethis sympathy more fully in their charitable work?

MJ: In real life, the Foundling Hospital was a destination of entertainmentfor the nobility of the 17th and 18th centuries. The children were worthyof pity and generosity, and far more appealing than the inmates atthe insane asylum *another common place to exhibit one’s charitablenature while watching grim drama at the same time. Particularlypopular as a viewing sport were the Saturday nights scheduled fordesperate young women to give up their babies and say farewellforever, with an audience of wealthy onlookers. I suspect that the trulycharitable patrons of the hospital were not part of the crowd whowitnessed the children eating lunch, so I did not feel compelled tomake the spectators overly sensitive in my book.

TU: Folly is told from the perspectives of four characters, all of whom playcentral roles in Mary’s past except Oliver. Tell us about your narra-tive choice, and why you decide to tell part of the story from hisperspective.

MJ: James needed someone to latch on to, without realizing, of course, thathis teacher was fearful of the outside to the point of staying at thefoundling home into adulthood. Oliver never had a family, other thanhis colleagues and students, but he has a unique point of view.He does not encounter Mary until quite late in the book, but he iswitness to James’s childhood * the one thing that Mary can never be.Although Oliver takes no part in Mary’s past, I think it is likely theywill share a future.

TU: You show us how differently a conversation is understood whenyou present us with both Mary’s and Eliza’s experiences of Bates’proposal. How important is it to recognise that there are limits toevery perspective and that both Mary and Eliza are biased?

MJ: Short answer: Very important.Longer answer: Every hour of every day we interpret what surrounds usand make assumptions about other people based on flimsy evidence orinattention to what we’re offered. Even those we love and trust are

A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn 121

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

repeatedly mistaken or simply dense about our intentions. I wanted tohighlight how precarious our understanding is, how narrow our vision.

TU: Building on this, why make Mary the book’s only first-personnarrator? Interestingly, we get a fuller version of the story than anyindividual character. For instance, Mary does not know of Eliza’smeeting with Caden, and Eliza is unsure if Bates is the father ofMary’s child. Is this choice strategic?

MJ: This was partly a practical solution to the problem of revealing moreaction or information than one character would be aware of. ButI hope it enhances the empathy factor so that the reader is left feeling,oh! If only he/she had known . . . etc.

TU: Caden remains a crux and, although Mary describes him as a ‘scoun-drel, braggart, and heart’s delight’ (2010: 2), we never know if hemerits this description or if he would have been more supportive hadhe known the truth. Why leave him in mystery?

MJ: Ultimately, for a young woman like Mary (and so many others), thecharacter of her baby’s father is irrelevant, especially if he abandonsher. She is left to decide who he is or might have been, without theintrusion of reality. In early drafts, Caden also had a voice in the narra-tive, but I changed my mind and took him out.

TU: Folly opens and ends with Mary in 1893, when James leaves theFoundling Hospital. Why set the novel in the late-Victorian period?

MJ: The timeline of the novel was chosen entirely because of my ownfamily history. My grandfather and the character of James share abirthday in September of 1881.

TU: What do you see as our attraction to the Victorian period? Whatattracts you to it?

MJ: As mentioned earlier, the Victorian era is simply enormous: its lengthto begin with; the discoveries and exploration made during its time;the industry, fashion, literature, invention, and social change. There isan ENDLESS and perpetual supply of story potential.

TU: The mature Mary’s views inform many parts of the novel; so too doEliza’s. For instance, we read, shortly after her first meeting withMary: ‘Many was the time later that Eliza thought Mary might havebeen her friend, if only she’d left Bates alone’ (2010: 46). Why framethe novel in retrospective narration?

MJ: I wrote the prologue to find Mary’s voice. It was clear she was speak-ing to someone. Quite late in the process, my editor, Wendy Lamb,

122 International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

suggested that we needed to know who that was and that an epiloguemight provide a bookend.

TU: The novel oscillates between the 1870s and the 1880s. What made youtell the story in this way?

MJ: I was certain that I wanted two narrative threads, from Mary andJames, each to relate a piece of the story, but the characters were notable to speak simultaneously. This forced a stretching of the timeframe to include them both.

TU: When he was a child in the Foundling Hospital, Oliver hoped thatDickens came just to see him, and loved him so much that he namedOliver Twist after him. To what extent were you informed by Dickens’novel?

MJ: I purposely did not re-read Oliver Twist while writing Folly, butwhen I visited London, I went to see the house in Doughty Streetwhere Dickens lived while he was writing his novel, just a few blocksfrom the Foundling Hospital. He was a frequent visitor to the Sundaychapel services and even wrote an essay about the institution. But theworkhouse he portrayed in his book is utterly different from therelative comfort of my story’s setting. And I made one importantdiscovery that proves Dickens’ allegiance * Oliver Twist’s bene-volent grandfather is named John Brownlow, honouring the secretaryof the Foundling Hospital during the time when Dickens was mostinvolved.

TU: Family and genealogy are central to Victorian writing. Was Follyinformed by other works of Victorian fiction? How so?

MJ: Folly was informed by Victorian literature only by being the productof an author with great affection for Dickens, the Brontes, ThomasHardy, George Eliot, and their peers. There was no consciousrelationship.

TU: Mary’s interaction with children is informed heavily by her relation-ship with her younger brothers. Tell us more about this.

MJ: Mary’s affection and responsibility for her brothers shows the readerthat she is a young woman who will be a devoted mother. This makesher plight and inevitable decision even more wretched. As a lovingparent, however, she realizes that as long as her son has a mother, itneedn’t be Mary who fills that role.

TU: Like Oliver Twist, Mary’s reunion with James is nothing short of amiracle. Is this an act of kindness?

A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn 123

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

MJ: I agree that Charles Dickens relied rather heavily on the unlikelinessthat Oliver Twist’s first outing with the gang of pickpockets shouldinvolve his own long-lost grandfather.I do not, however, see Mary’s reunion with James as a miracle, or evena coincidence, but rather the result of Mary’s decade of determinedintention to end up exactly where she does.

TU: What are you working on now?

MJ: I’m not sure how life got so complicated, but I am currently work-ing on four books, each very different from one another so that I canswitch back and forth depending on my mood. Two are collabora-tions * a middle-grade adventure (with a friend) and a picture book(with my daughter, Nell), as well as a craft book and a novel for teen-agers told in linked stories.

TU: What are you reading now?

MJ: Adult books I have just finished reading are The Magician King by LevGrossman and The Prestige by Christopher Priest.As for kid books, I am reading the other contenders for the GeoffreyBilson award, all of them marvellous, by Jean Little, Martha Brooks,Caroline Pignat, and Valerie Sherrard.

TU: Early on in the novel, Mary wonders if she is making up stories, orif Margaret Huckle is as ugly as Mary makes her. As Mary, and we,as readers, discover, ‘stories have a way of tricking you’ (2010: 211).Thank-you so much for your time and for this excellent book!

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank John James, Tyler Shores, and the reviewer for NewWriting: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing fortheir incisive reading. I am grateful to the Social Science and HumanitiesCouncil of Canada, the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund, and UniversityCollege London for their generous support.

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Tom Ue, University College

London, English Language and Literature, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BTUnited Kingdom, ([email protected]).

References

Dickens, Charles (2003) Oliver Twist, Philip Horne (ed.) London: Penguin Group.Grossman, Lev (2011) The Magician King. New York: Viking.

124 International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Jocelyn, Marthe (2004) Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance.Toronto: Tundra Books.

Jocelyn, Marthe (2005) A Home for Foundlings. Toronto: Tundra Books.Jocelyn, Marthe (2010) Folly. Toronto: Tundra Books.Priest, Christopher (1996) The Prestige. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

A Conversation with Marthe Jocelyn 125

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

FU B

erlin

] at

01:

56 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014