Bulletin | spring 2014 41
’90
Joanna Hershon
Lessons of a Writing Life
story by lindsay whalen ’01 Lindsay Whalen ’01 is a Truman Capote Fellow in the Brooklyn College MFA Program.
Escaping the cold of a New York winter, writer Joanna Hershon ’90 leads a lunchtime writing workshop at the East Village bistro Calliope. It is a moment when delicious food, exciting company, and good conversation come together – something the Spanish call sobremesa. From her place at the head of the table, Joanna greets each student, and easy chatter begins between the guests, a diverse group of 15 that includes two published novelists, a French model, and book publicist Gretchen Crary ’88, as they tuck into plates of fresh scones, clotted cream, and jam. “I begin with character,” she says. “When I’m trying to find plot, I start by asking what each character wants, and often find that the drama that I’m looking for comes from the tension between conflicting desires.” It’s an approach she believes can be instructive for all writers as they try to find their way into a story. Joanna is the author of four novels, the most recent of which, Dual Inheritance, is to be published in paperback this spring.
Her ambitions as a writer began in a Choate classroom. Studying with Melinda Talkington ignited her imagination and deepened her love of the novel. As sixth former, she wrote a novella as part of an independent study with Watson Lowery. But theater held an equal place in her heart, and as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan she explored both passions. Graduation brought her to New York, where she went on auditions while teaching as an ESL instructor. She continued to write, and in 1997 took the leap to make fiction her primary focus as a student in Columbia’s MFA program. It was at Columbia, where she studied with mentors Michael Cunningham and Helen Schulman, that she began the manuscript that would become her first novel, Swimming. Research has also become central to Joanna’s process, allowing her to travel beyond the borders of her own experience. “I really see fiction as a way of exploring different lives,” Joanna says. Her third novel, The German Bride, is the story of a young Jewish immigrant’s arrival in 1860s Santa Fe. The idea for the novel began with a chance conversation with a friend whose ancestors were Jewish cowboys. Joanna was fascinated, and spent the next three years reading everything she could to better understand the Jewish experience of the American West. The narrative voice remained distant until she discovered a trove of primary documents at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. It was here that Eva Frank, the central character, came to life. With her newest book, A Dual Inheritance, reviewed in the Fall 2013 Bulletin, Joanna entered new territory. The novel begins in the 1960s, when two Harvard students form an unlikely friendship, and follows their connection into the present. To better understand Cambridge of the period, she spoke at length with the Harvard and Radcliffe graduates who knew that world best. Anthropology also plays a critical role in the narrative, and Joanna immersed herself in the subject. Asked about the widening scope of her fiction, Joanna says, “You’re following your interests and your anxieties. I love to have something concrete to learn about.” For Joanna, writing is a continuing education, and her role as student continues even now that she is a teacher herself. A thesis advisor and frequent instructor for Columbia’s MFA program, Joanna sees her classroom work as a rewarding exchange. One of the lessons she tries to impart on her students is “how to pay attention as a writer.” This means reading with a focus on craft, as well as “listening to the rhythms of language, both in literature and everyday conversation,” she says. Perhaps equally important is Joanna’s unique generosity of spirit. As for those at Calliope, her openness and encouragement seem to be what the group needed. “This was so much fun for me. Joanna’s exercise was spot on,” says fellow Choatie Gretchen Crary. “I feel energized to get back to my novel ASAP.”