AUTHOR PROFILE
Wayne Cresser lives with his wife on an island in Narragansett Bay. His fiction has been published in seven print anthologies, the most recent, Spank the Carp 2018, online at Jerry Jazz Musician, Gravel, Open: Journal of Arts and Letters, Review Americana, and Story, and in such print journals as The Ocean State Review and SLAB. For the latest news and blogs related to his literary life, visit Just Between You and Me (a literary confidence) (https://wcresser.wordpress.com/tag/wayne-cresser/).
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Wayne's work appeared in Pond 59
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Why do you write?
I hadn't read "The Hunger Artist," by Franz Kafka, until recently. In that story the title character struggles with making the art of fasting meaningful to his audience. He doesn't succeed for many reasons, and as such, the parable speaks to, among other things, the frustrations of the artist. So, the question you ask here has been on my mind lately.
Writing is an artistic impulse, and for me, that impulse is tied to the notion of explaining myself to myself. Now if it ended there, my writing would best be kept private. However, I strive to find something other people can relate to in the stories I tell. So, like any impulse, the urge to write starts with me. And if I've said anything worthwhile in the themes I've explored, then the work will end with an audience.
Writing is an artistic impulse, and for me, that impulse is tied to the notion of explaining myself to myself. Now if it ended there, my writing would best be kept private. However, I strive to find something other people can relate to in the stories I tell. So, like any impulse, the urge to write starts with me. And if I've said anything worthwhile in the themes I've explored, then the work will end with an audience.
What other creative activities are you involved in?
I've done some acting, most recently in a production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town for a local theater group. In the not-so-distant past, I created with a colleague, an online lit magazine called Shaking Like a Mountain, later Shaking. We published two anthologies of prose from the magazine: Shaking Intensified: Best Prose 2007-2010 and Shaking One (2012).
Other than that, it's like my friend George recently said of me, I'm working on my inner-fisherman and my inner-clamdigger.
Other than that, it's like my friend George recently said of me, I'm working on my inner-fisherman and my inner-clamdigger.
Who is your favorite author and why?
Tough question. I'd prefer to talk about styles and eras of writing that have really influenced me before I name names. Collectively, I like the Modernists best: Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker and James Joyce, and their immediate forbears, Josef Conrad and Sherwood Anderson. My favorite among them is James Joyce for his stylistic brilliance and the depth and breadth of his intellect.
Tell us about the mechanics of how you write.
First thing, pen to paper with as little self-editing as possible. When I feel like I'm running out of gas, I stop. I don't set daily goals, but I have a morning practice during which time is allotted for writing. That's generally spontaneous prose, "first thought, best thought," as Jack Kerouac said. Later when I have the characters more-or-less fleshed out, I start writing drafts, which can go on interminably. It's tough for me to let stuff go.
Finally, what do you think about Carp, the fish, not our website?
Seriously, I don't know much about carp, except that they like to feed at the bottom of their habitats and are freshwater fish. I know too that when people carp about things, they're usually unpleasant, the things I mean, but I suppose the people could be unpleasant too.
I would do much better talking about saltwater fish, especially tautog (or blackfish), which we've been catching a lot lately. Like carp, they're bottom dwellers. We tempt them with bits of green crab. I don't know what carp like to bite on, but I imagine finding out would make for a pleasant day on the water.
I would do much better talking about saltwater fish, especially tautog (or blackfish), which we've been catching a lot lately. Like carp, they're bottom dwellers. We tempt them with bits of green crab. I don't know what carp like to bite on, but I imagine finding out would make for a pleasant day on the water.