Googling your own name is a well known as an act of vanity, but writers do it also to try and gauge responses to their work (it's always good to know what people think of what you've done). So there I was idly Googling a couple of times recently and I came across two responses to my story 'Falling' which really tickled me. First of all, it turns out that, all without my knowing, a recording of the story has been uploaded to YouTube - a really nice recording, I think, the story well read.
Then yesterday I came upon this, the description by design graduate Gus van Manen of his graphic design interpretation of the story, a beautiful little book that lets you, as he says, 'fall' through the story - exactly the kind of sensation I was hoping to create for the reader. (Go to the page for the images, which I can't copy.) It never palls, that sense of gratification when you feel that someone has really understood what you're doing. And when they pour their own creativity into attending to it in these ways - well!
Oh, and I discovered from Google yesterday that two years ago a paper was presented at a conference of the Association for Welsh Writing in English at Bangor University in 2014 by Michelle Deininger on 'The Politics of Disease in the Short Fiction of Elizabeth Baines' - all without my having any inkling! *
'Falling' can be read on East of the Web and is included in my latest collection of short stories, Used to Be (Salt).
* I am grateful to Michelle Deininger for posting in the comments below a link to her thesis, from which her paper was taken, and which I have brought up here: Short Fiction by Women from Wales: a neglected tradition. Pages 177-188 deal with two of my early stories.
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6 comments:
The irony is that I found your comment while googling *myself* because I couldn't remember what the paper was called when trying to update my academic profile page...
Ha! Gratified that you studied my stories, and would be interested to read what you wrote, if it's published.
This is my PhD thesis - available now on open access - http://orca.cf.ac.uk/59447/ I talk about Boiling the Potatoes quite a bit - love that story. The paper was based on this section. I also teach BtP on a scheme for adult learners who want to go on to do a degree in the humanities. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/learn/choices/pathway-degree-english-literature-english-language-philosophy/group-2-core-courses/ideology-and-the-text/
I've recently done a chapter for Ecofeminism in Dialogue, an interdisciplinary book edited by Doug Vakoch and Sam Mickey which is in the process of being edited at the moment. I compare your story with other ecofeminist short stories published in Planet in the 70s. Will let you know when it comes out!
At some point very soon I'm going to actually write the journal article (that I've been meaning to do for the last two or three years) based on the back catalogue you sent me of your short stories a few years ago, when I first encountered your work.
And your new collection is waiting on my bedside table!
Your PhD looks amazing., Michelle. So far I've only properly read the bit relating to me - I'm really thrilled that you have appreciated so well what I'm trying to do! Looking forward to your next publications.
Hi Elizabeth, I saw this article this morning about Aberthaw power plant - 'Boiling the Potatoes' feels even more prophetic. The early death rate attributed to the pollution is terrifying. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38657265
Horrific - can't say I'm happy to have my long-ago instincts proved so correct. Thank you for letting me know.
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