Writers Talking About Writing
What is a Writer Supposed to "Look" Like?
In last Sunday's Los Angeles Times, David Ulin published a nifty profile of William T. Vollmann, but starts off with something that grinds my gears:
William T. Vollmann hardly looks like one of the most ambitious authors of his generation. Walking on Haight Street in his rumpled jeans, ball cap and black T-shirt, shoulders bowed beneath a heavy backpack, he seems an older version of the street kids who still congregate in the tawdry heart of Haight-Ashbury
What the hell is a writer "supposed" to look like, especially one who has won the National Book Award and the coveted Strauss Living Writers Award ($50,000 a year tax free for five years)? Or aty writer? Tweed jacket and elbow patches? Ivy League? Glasses? Demure and petite? Bill Vollmann, I might add, dresses the same way Jack Kerouac did.
I have gotten the same myself, not as a fiction writer, but for my academic work. Several times I have been told, "You don't look like a literary scholar" or "you don't look like an anthropologist." What they hey...what are they supposed to look like, I wonder? (More pix of Bill attached)
Perhaps a uniform look is expected...
Vollmann, by the way, is one of best IMHO, as I have co-edited, with Larry McCaffery, Expelled from Eden: A William Vollmann Reader (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004) and composed William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study (McFarland, 2009).
William T. Vollmann hardly looks like one of the most ambitious authors of his generation. Walking on Haight Street in his rumpled jeans, ball cap and black T-shirt, shoulders bowed beneath a heavy backpack, he seems an older version of the street kids who still congregate in the tawdry heart of Haight-Ashbury
What the hell is a writer "supposed" to look like, especially one who has won the National Book Award and the coveted Strauss Living Writers Award ($50,000 a year tax free for five years)? Or aty writer? Tweed jacket and elbow patches? Ivy League? Glasses? Demure and petite? Bill Vollmann, I might add, dresses the same way Jack Kerouac did.
I have gotten the same myself, not as a fiction writer, but for my academic work. Several times I have been told, "You don't look like a literary scholar" or "you don't look like an anthropologist." What they hey...what are they supposed to look like, I wonder? (More pix of Bill attached)
Perhaps a uniform look is expected...
Vollmann, by the way, is one of best IMHO, as I have co-edited, with Larry McCaffery, Expelled from Eden: A William Vollmann Reader (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004) and composed William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study (McFarland, 2009).
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Vollmamann NBA.jpg, 26 KB -
Vollmann pic 7.jpg, 140 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JeSais on
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"... rumpled jeans, ball cap and black T-shirt, shoulders bowed beneath a heavy backpack..." throw in a beer and he looks like every graduate student here in the MFA program at Univ. of New Mexico. And trust me, we're all ambitious!
I like the idea of a uniform, however!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Hemmingson on -
Perhaps all writers should wear cheerleader uniforms...
All MFA students look the same at any university. Fortunately, I never went the MFA route, otherwise I'd be unpublish(able)ed and unemploy(able)ed now. ;)
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ouch.... especially coming on the heels of not one but TWO rejections this week... ugh.
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Permalink Reply by Linton Robinson on
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Come now, Michael
Surely a guy with that sort of sales can afford a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches and a sweater vest? Perhaps some horn-rimmed glasses.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Hemmingson on
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Hormed-rimmed -- the connotations of the sexy librarian are too much.
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Keep a few things in mind as you post here:
1. Posts are public.
This is a public forum and all posts are archived on the web. Bottom line, don't say anything here you wouldn't want everyone (and I mean EVERYONE: your mom, your little brother, your future employer) to see. Forever.
2. Be On Topic.
This is a group of writers. We're here to talk about writing, the creation of writing, the business of writing, events about writing. We are also a community of friends to some extent, which means that on occasion, non-writing topics will come up. Use the Start a New Discussion link if you want to change topics, and be sure to Title and Tag your post appropriately. That way your fellow writers will be able to scan the list of active discussions and see which ones are of interest.
3. Be Respectful.
Don't really foresee a problem here, but we gotta say it anyway. Disagreements are fine, but please please don't resort to personal insults and/or name calling. Mean people are not cool and harassment, intentionally inflammatory remarks, and bigotry will not be tolerated.
4. Privacy.
We'll respect yours. We won't give away or sell names, contact information, etc. Please do the same for your fellow community members.
5. SPAM. Don't.
6. Ads.
Part of the deal with using this wonderful, free online tool (ning.com) is that it has Ads running along the side. We can upgrade to a professional account, but it will cost $20 per month, so if it bothers you, be prepared to pony up.
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