Jennifer Haigh
Jennifer Haigh
Jennifer Haigh is an American novelist and short story writer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
CountryUnited States of America
learned performing structure
As a young writer, I learned a lot about grammatical structure from reading plays, from performing the plays. I think that was a wonderful apprenticeship.
draw life none
Like all writers, I draw from life as I know it; but it's a refracted kind of reality, and none of it is factually true.
discovered felt knew quickly though
I believed, after writing 'Mrs. Kimble,' that I knew how to write a novel. I quickly discovered that I only knew how to write that novel. 'Baker Towers' was a different beast entirely; and I felt as though I had to learn to write all over again.
stories my-family
The story of my family. . .changes with the teller.
loyalty powerful fog
It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. That loyalty and affection, so consuming and powerful, could dissipate like fog.
voice familiar wanted
I wanted only a familiar voice, someone who knew me. Not some earlier, larval version of myself. . .
reading writing practice
Writing fiction, like reading fiction, is a practice in empathy.
scare similar ways
Working in a prison, is, to my mind, similar in ways to working in a coal mine. It's going to scare away a lot of people.