Garth Greenwell on writing intimacy

"Sex is a privileged resource for the writer."

What makes us love a book? For me, it is the author’s facility with language. In this light, Garth Greenwell is one of my favorite authors. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up Pride month than to feature this beautiful writer.

Garth Greenwell’s novels WHAT BELONGS TO YOU and CLEANNESS (my NPR review here) were game changers for me. These books open a window on men loving other men by baring characters’ vulnerabilities, and bringing readers into the deepest chambers of characters’ hearts and minds.

I believe is not an accident that Greenwell trained as a bel canto singer. At Eastman School of Music, opera texts brought him to words on a page, and to books and writing. Greenwell writes in a very special cadence. Music, in Greenwell’s view, “teaches you how suspending language and time can be very productive of emotion.” And “Opera makes maximal impact out of minimal means.”

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Greenwell about writing intimacy, and his forthcoming book, SMALL RAIN. Greenwell discussed writing about sex as “a privileged resource for the writer. Sex is a crucible of humanness, certain paradoxes of our nature are put under intense pressure,” he said. On the other hand, the challenge of writing is to get actions on a page, which by definition cannot be captured. Thus, he pointed out, describing someone eating a muffin presents all the same authorial obstacles.

You can listen to the full interview here.

Here’s my new NPR review about an interesting novel called THE LIQUID EYE OF A MOON by Nigerian writer Uchenna Awoke. It’s a story about Dimkpa, a young teenager coming of age within the Igbo caste system. Awoke is a talented writer and someone to follow.

Please stay cool!

Love, Martha

P.S. ICYMI, here is last week’s newsletter, Celebrating Pride Month.