Anne Kennedy

Anne Kennedy is the University of Hawaii's Distinguished Writer in
Residence for Fall 2006. Her newest book is a narrative poem, The
Time of the Giants. It is the story about the relationship between a
young woman giant and a - "medium-sized," as she puts it - man.
Kennedy speaks of her giant girl as someone who is entirely willing to
conform to the ideas of society by hiding her height at all costs; she
tries her best to be sitting whenever in her suitors' presence.
Kennedy has published five books of fiction as well as collections of poetry. She is currently the co-editor of Trout, an online arts and literature
journal from Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands.

Interview by Blaine Tolentino

KL: Which, of all your published work, are you most proud of? And, of course, why?

AK: I’m most proud of my most recent book, The Time of the Giants, which is a long narrative poem about a young woman giant who forms a relationship with a medium-sized man. Through the whole relationship she tries to hide her height from him, going to great lengths never to stand up in his presence. Sometimes a storyline drops into your lap and I felt pleased this one had because it says something about the way we think young women should look like and behave like. I think we’re going backwards as a society in that regard – I’m talking about the West in general. Young women seem to be MORE concerned about conforming than they were, say, a generation ago. My giant character is like that. But the book also brings together a couple of strands of writing that I’ve had going on for years – poetry and plot. I was influenced by Virgil’s Eclogues.

KL: Where had you been residing before being at the University of Hawaii?

AK: I’ve been in Hawaii with my family for three years, because my husband Robert teaches writing at UH.

KL: As a teacher? If so, how is it that the students at the University ofHawai‘i differ from your prior experience?

AK: I’ve a bit, not a lot, in the past, so can’t really compare at this stage.

KL: How is it being on the resident writer "circuit", how often do youinvolve yourself in this sort of thing, how were you engaged to be atthe university? Those sorts of things.

AK: I feel so incredibly lucky to have been offered this fellowship. The university is a wonderful place to be, full of interesting people and ideas. Teaching is a buzz. I’ve had a fellowship before, back in Auckland at the university there, but it wasn’t a teaching position. In Aotearoa the university writing fellowships don’t involve teaching, you just write. The teaching side is an American thing, in fact the whole notion of teaching creative writing at all is American – it began in Iowa about forty years ago I think. Now it’s being exported all over the world like wheat.

KL: I see that you cited Alice Monroe and Flannery O'Connor as a pair ofyour favorite writers. Do you find yourself comparable to them? Isit more of a keen point of inspiration or do you aspire to accomplishliterary works similar to theirs?

AK: I admire those writers greatly – Flannery O’Connor for the grotesque thing she has going – but you can’t set out to write like another writer. For one thing, you have to have your own voice. Writing is about voice. If you have a voice you can do anything with it. So in fact reading a writer you hugely admire could be a disadvantage while you were in the intense stages of writing a particular piece. Janet Frame, one of our most esteemed writers from Aotearoa, said she didn’t read any fiction at all while she was writing a novel. She only read poetry.

KL: Have you been to any of the readings around town? This question ismore about the literary scene. How do you perceive it? Do you feelthat its flourishing or being diminished? It’s always interesting toget an outsiders point of view on this sort of thing because itsdifficult, of course, to judge something like that when you are soclose to the source (as we are).

AK: There are small festivals going on here that are amazing. You have to look out for them though. I’ve been to some memorable readings here – Mahealani Kamau’u was the most recent. I’ve enjoyed hearing people read at UH – W.S. Merwin the most recent, And some wonderful writers come through – Martin Espada was here a couple of years ago.

I think the scene is definitely growing but it would be good if several pockets got together. It’s a small place – we have much the same problem in Aotearoa. We’ve got 4 million people, but that’s still small. Writers festivals there have grown over the last 15 years or so. They take time to catch on. But that said, festivals aren’t everything. You can get too carried away with thinking festivals are writing. They’re just the public face of it. Only writing is writing. And there’s some amazing writing happening here. I’m a fan of Rodney Morales and Gary Pak who are both at UH, of Haunani-Kay Trask and I know of a couple of younger poets who’s work we’ll no doubt see soon. People just need to buy their books! A writer can’t keep writing if they don’t sell books.

I co-edit an on-line literary magazine, Trout (www.trout.auckland.ac.nz) with my husband Robert, and recently we did a combined issue with Tinfish – edited by the inimitable Susan Shultz, who puts out a phenomenal number of books and chapbooks.

For more information on Anne Kennedy's literary readings, go to http://www.english.hawaii.edu/events/events.html