“I became a writer because I am the youngest of six children. I listen; I observe. I'm camouflaged as a moth. Mothers are unseen. It helps me write.” WritingChildrenHelpingMotherHelp Me Author:Samantha Hunt
“In writing I found a way to make silence and to be silent. The short story has a lot more silence than the novel and that is its success.” WritingSilenceNovelSilentShort Story Author:Samantha Hunt
“One book that has meant much to my writing is W.G. Sebald's The Emigrants. He uses a photograph of Vladimir Nabokov hunting butterflies in a similar way. The image or a reference to the image is traced throughout the four separate narratives. It sometimes seems to be the only link between the pieces, while the symbol Nabokov cuts remains wide open, a pencil sketch, a mystery to interpret outside his role as emigrant/observer.” WritingBookSometimesCuttingMysteryPhotographHuntingButterfly Author:Samantha Hunt
“Much of the writing I do about the female body is to remind women, myself included, that they make life and they make death. That strikes me as a far more powerful stance than the weak lies told about mothering.” WritingLyingPowerfulFemaleWeakMotheringFemale Body Author:Samantha Hunt
“I think I write mostly about death and so it is interesting to hear how often people think I'm writing about pregnancy and birth. Though of course they are two sides of the same coin. Both when I was pregnant and now as a mother, I am consumed with thoughts of death. This is a strange role in parenting. The death guardian.” PeopleThinkingWritingMotherInterestingStrangeBirthPregnancyPregnantGuardian Author:Samantha Hunt
“I am very bad at remembering the books I've read and so recently I had a wonderful experience. I decided I wanted to teach Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I hadn't read it in twenty-five years. I was surprised to find how much I drew from that book. Stole from that book, learned from that book about writing. I had forgotten and there it was. Morrison has called that text faulted. I cannot see how.” WritingBookEyeRememberTeachWonderfulForgotten Author:Samantha Hunt
“There's a voice when I write. I speak everything aloud. My family is so accustomed to me talking to myself that often times they don't answer me when I am trying to speak to one of them.” WritingTryingSpeakMy Family Author:Samantha Hunt
“When I was learning to write I was surrounded by poets; Brian Blanchfield and Annie Guthrie were always with me as I was learning. I'm so grateful for the poets in my life. Because of them I always knew the importance of each word, line.” WritingPoetImportanceGratefulAnnieSo Grateful Author:Samantha Hunt
