One of the most interesting
things about living in Evansville
is being surrounded by all sorts of creative people and not even knowing it. From
artists to musicians to writers, Evansville
seems to have it all.
News 4U likes
to pay attention to these people, and starting this month, we’re going to
periodically spotlight some of these folks. This month, we’re going to focus on
accomplished author Margaret McMullan.
N4U: You're originally from the South. How did you
end up in Evansville?
Margaret McMullan: I was
born in Newton, Mississippi, which I like to say is between
Chunky and Soso, which is another way of saying it's in the middle of nowhere.
I loved growing up in Mississippi.
We moved to the Chicago area when I was nine, then I attended Grinnell College
in Iowa, then I moved to New York to work at Glamour magazine, then I went to graduate school at the University
of Arkansas, then I got a job teaching at the University of Evansville in 1990
where I've been since.
Your novels tell stories about people from all walks
of life and all kinds of subjects, from the magazine industry of the 1980s to
Civil War-era historical fiction to growing up in modern day inner-city Chicago. What inspires
you tell these stories?
I like writing about how
historical events affect ordinary people. The historical elements are usually
marching forward in the background of my plots. If you know history, most
people know how those historical events end. Then there is the personal, more
human plot going on in the foreground. I think it's fair to say that everything
I write about has some personal element. I worked in the magazine industry in New York in the 1980s; the novel HOW I FOUND THE STRONG is loosely based on my great great uncle's
recollections of that time period; and CASHAY
is loosely based on my sister's experience tutoring a young girl who lived in Chicago's Cabrini Green
housing projects.
Tell me a little bit about your next book and how it
came to be.
SOURCES OF LIGHT came from several different inspirations. When my 12 year-old son was
campaigning in Indiana
for Barack Obama, he went door to door in strange neighborhoods, and he did not
understand why I was so concerned for his safety. I told him that when I was
growing up in Mississippi
in the 1960s, I wasn’t allowed to discuss politics with anyone because it was
too dangerous. People all around us – in the news and in our neighborhood were
getting threatened, shot, or run out of town. “Mom,” he said. “The sixties are
over.” I didn’t think he really understood how dangerous things were in the
American South not so long ago. And then, when I was teaching at the University of Evansville, preparing a class for Martin
Luther King Day, I was surprised how many students did not know exactly what
happened back then. And some had never discussed race relations or civil rights
in America.
I was teaching a creative non-fiction writing class that
semester and I assigned an essay by James Baldwin. No one had ever heard of
him, and they certainly didn't know that he was African American. We went on to
read essays by Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and
others. One student came up to me after class one day and said she wasn’t used
to discussing race in class, that it made her uncomfortable, but she was glad
to listen to others doing so.
I have always wanted to write about the 60s and growing
up in Mississippi.
I also wanted to write about the love/hate relationship with the South so many
southerners feel. Often, we spend a good deal of our lives apologizing for
being from the South, while, at the same time, we’re trying to make our way
back “home.”
So I decided to write about a 14-year old fictional girl
named Samantha (Sam). In SOURCES OF LIGHT
it’s 1962, a year after the death of Sam’s father--he was a war hero—and Sam
and her mother must move, along with their very liberal views, to Jackson, Mississippi,
her father's conservative hometown. Needless to say, they don't quite fit in.
Both Sam and her mother fall in love, and then there’s a murder.
How do you balance working as a writer with your
teaching career?
When my publisher Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt offered me a contract to write two books, the University of
Evansville was good enough to allow me to teach every other semester (in the
spring), which allowed me to write the books and stay on schedule. Otherwise, I
write in the summer and on holidays every day, starting at 8 a.m. Writing requires
conscious discipline.
CASHAY is loosely based on her sister's experience tutoring a young girl who lived in Chicago's Cabrini Green housing projects.
What's the one subject you haven't written about yet
that you'd love to tackle?
What a great question. Hmmm.
There are several subjects I’d love to tackle. I want to set a story in Israel. I’m
interested in how some towns die – as a result of natural or unnatural
disasters. I would like to write more about science. All of this is very vague,
I know.
Who, in your opinion, is one of the most
under-appreciated writers working today?
Many of my friends and
former students – published and unpublished.
What's the most indispensable piece of advice you've
ever been given in your career?
Writing is something like
95% sweat and 5% inspiration. You can’t wait around for an idea to come to you.
You have to be at your desk, working. That’s when the ideas come.
What advice would you give to writers today?
Read, read, read. Then see
if you have anything new to add. Then see the answer to the previous question!
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PHOTO CREDIT | PAT O'CONNOR
