Amy Hempel
Amy Hempel
Amy Hempelis an American short story writer and journalist. She teaches creative writing at Bennington College and University of Florida...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth14 December 1951
CountryUnited States of America
alive dies right-now
We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always alive.
writing doors sometimes
Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.
leader good-leader following
Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.
dog smart smarter
They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.
eye past alive
if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.
teacher liars drinking
It was like that class at school where the teacher talks about Realization, about how you could realize something big in a commonplace thing. The example he gave--and the liar said it really happened--was that once while drinking orange juice, he'd realized he would be dead someday. He wondered if we, his students, had had similar 'realizations.' Is he kidding? I thought. Once I cashed a paycheck and I realized it wasn't enough. Once I had food poisoning, and realized I was trapped inside my body.
fall broken speak
In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.
bigs come-up mediums
I'm not good at small talk; I'm not good at big talk; and medium talk just doesn't come up.
lying mean thinking
I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition is: Put your cards on the table.
wanted
Just once in my life--oh, when have I ever wanted anything just once in my life?
baby men scare
The only time the word baby doesn't scare me is the time that it should, when it is what a man calls me.
dream needs
Dreams: the place most of us get what we need.
heart people alive
Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.
sleep glasses water
I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal earth is trembling or if the shaking is still me.