An Interview with Kimiko Hahn and Harold Schechter

How do you get started on a piece of writing?

KH: More often than not I am moved by the quality of a word or words or by peculiar imagery. In my forthcoming book, for example, I was inspired by articles from the science section of The New York Times. Because I was not much of a science student this is a fairly exotic territory! I love the language, itself—syrinx, pistil, exoplanet—and of course the information is fascinating. What could be more urgent than extinction? These various things trigger my own personal feelings and I begin to scribble. Later, as part of the revision process, I try to see where the poem is heading—and to go with it. To trim the poem in that direction. I might start with the burrowing owl’s nesting habits and end up at a picnic.

HS: Mostly I write books--I've just handed in #32 to my editor at Random House. A half-dozen have been novels (horror, historical mystery) but most are in the genre of historical true crime. After settling on a subject, I embark on my research, though I'm usually so impatient to write that I tend to launch into the book pretty quickly and continue researching as I go along. Most of my books proceed chronologically, so I generally begin at the beginning. I write every morning for a few hours--I try to do at least one finished page per day. (I don't write drafts.)

What do you see as the role of art, and how do you see your own work within that frame?

KH: Anything that I say on this matter will be personal because there are as many views of the role of art as there are artists. Having said that, I will quote Earl Miner, a scholar on Japanese literature: “To [Ki no Tsurayuki] and his society poetry was a means to clarify life, sustain it, and indeed celebrate it.” (From Japanese Poetic Diaires.) Although this Japanese poet was writing in the early part of 900, this is still true. For my own writing? I hope that my work moves people, emotionally; I hope it gives a person pause, in terms of feelings, thoughts, and at times, social awareness; and I hope my work celebrates life—even, or perhaps especially, those poems about the monstrous side of ourselves.

HS: Here's my personal definition of art: "The manipulation of a medium of creative expression to render visible an unseen order of meaning." I do not, however, consider myself an artist but rather a craftsman. My aim is to take thousands of pages of dry documents--old newspaper clippings, trial transcripts, psychiatric reports, etc.--and transmute them into a compelling narrative.

Is there a current writing project you’re willing to share with our readers?

KH: Because I have just finished a collection that I’ve been working on for over seven years, I am toying with several possibilities. One is to continue along the lines of Toxic Flora; i.e., to continue using science as a springboard for exploring personal issues. I am also working on pieces—similar to The Narrow Road to the Interior—that utilize Japanese classical forms. This summer I tried my hand at haibun and continued my interest in nikki (which are poetic diaries—as opposed to journals dedicated to record). I have a graduate student who is translating zuihitsu and so we are working together on that—which is extremely satisfying!

HS: The book I just handed in--which I suspect will require some trimming and tightening--deals with the Colt-Adams murder case. In 1841, John C. Colt--brother of the six-gun inventor and the author of a pioneering accounting text--brutally killed a well-known printer named Samuel Adams in Manhattan, then packed the corpse in a wooden crate and tried to ship it to New Orleans. The case was one of the criminal sensations of the day. It inspired Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Oblong Box" and obsessed Herman Melville, who alludes to it in "Bartleby the Scrivener" (that's where I first encountered it). My book, which not only reconstructs the case but focuses on John's relationship with his famous brother, is tentatively titled Death's Brother: Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend.

Kimiko Hahn and Harold Schechter are part of the 2009-10 Distinguished Visiting Writers Series. Click here for more information.