“Oh my research. Well, I got an English Degree. And I got that degree in a certain time/at a certain place. If you add UC Berkeley + 1984 the other side of the = is "new historian" meaning that I studied with and was influenced by those who were interested in how the personal shaped the political (and literary), how science and literature might interact, and what the body got to do with it.” IfsWellsBodyMightPoliticalCertainLiteratureSidesDegreesResearchAddHistorianBerkeleyUc Berkeley Author:Laura Mullen
“If we take seriously the idea that the stories we want to hear shape the stories we can (and want to, and are allowed to) tell, then the canon emerges as something to examine very carefully.” IfsWantIdeasStoriesShapesCanon Author:Laura Mullen
“Helen Vendler calls this kind of interrogation of a work "roads not taken," suggesting that it's useful, when writing critically, to consider what differences it makes to the work or the encounter with the work if changes are made. It's one way of better understanding your experience, comparing it to other possible experiences you can imagine having.” IfsWayWritingKindMadeUnderstandingDifferencesTakenImagineMade ItOne WayCompareEncountersSuggestingHelenInterrogationRoad Not Taken Author:Laura Mullen
“Complicated Grief was written in larger and more coherent (if disparate) shapes. The question was how they fit together. The mind is coherent, trust that was the best writing advice I ever got (I got it from Carole Maso and I pass it on). It's true, and clearer and clearer as one grows and gains an improved sense of who one actually is (as versus who one was supposed to be).” IfsWritingMindTogetherGrowsGriefWrittenAdviceFitShapesGainsComplicatedSupposed To BeVersusWriting AdviceComplicated Grief Author:Laura Mullen
“We live in a culture that insists on "moving on" (even while our loyalty to and love of the franchise and the sequel give away a larger loopiness). But I tend to dwell or obsess or meditate, and I came back to, for instance, the figure of Dickens's "Miss Havisham" with some (self) recognition if not relief.” IfsGivingSelfMovingCultureMissingFiguresAnd LoveLoyaltyInstanceRecognitionReliefSequelsDickensSelf RecognitionHavishamMiss Havisham Author:Laura Mullen
“It's painful, but it's part of the recognition that makes real healing possible, if healing is possible (the jury is out on that, that's the usual phrase - should I say the jury is deadlocked?). Staying with the pain, attending to it, being present to and with it - that's the task, because that's the only (as far as I can tell) hope of finding a way forward.” IfsWayShouldI CanRealPainHealingFindingsTasksPainfulRecognitionPhrasesStayingUsualShould IJuryAttendingWay Forward Author:Laura Mullen
“In a museum in El Paso, Texas, there's a map that shows all the places the border between the U.S. and Mexico has been (because it shifted) - I find it very clarifying (not confusing) to be reminded that everything we feel like we've really pinned down is transient, arbitrary, and marks the site of a painful if not violent negotiation, one that may not have ended.” IfsFeelsMayHas BeensShowsMarkPainfulViolentBordersMapsMuseumsTexasMexicoSiteNegotiationConfusingArbitraryTransientClarifyingEl Paso Author:Laura Mullen
