Heidi was a great guest host and we learned a lot about her journey with the novel - which was rejected dozens of times by publishers who thought there was no market for a story about an bi-racial girl. I think that's astonishing. It seems to me that anyone who is paying attention would know that a beautiful novel that speaks to both the adolescent experience as well as the multi-racial experience would resonate with contemporary readers. But I'm just a reader ...
We asked Heidi about whether Nella Larsen's work influenced her. And we learned that she considers Nella Larsen to be her muse and that Heidi placed a marker on the author's grave. Heidi wrote about that here: My Nella Larsen: Remembering Her.
Read our chat transcript to catch up.
Learn more about Heidi and the novel on her web site, www.heididurrow.com. Follow her on Twitter (@heididurrow) and/or Facebook.
And check out the festival she co-founded, the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. It's scheduled for June 11 - 12, 2011 in Los Angeles.
I'm so looking forward to reading more of Heidi Durrow's work. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is a beautiful story and exactly the kind of book I want to highlight through #blacklitchat - beautifully written, engaging, and bringing something new to our understanding of culture and literature.
If you haven't read it, add it to your "to be read" list.
3 comments:
Certainly adding this one to my TBR list! Thanks!
KW
http://www.ekfamilybooks.blogspot.com
Hi,
I'd like to subscribe to the blog, but I can find the button.
Also, do you have podcast of the interviews? that would be really cool Thanks!
I read The Girl Who Fell from the Sky a few months ago and loved it. It's such an intriguing book, so well-written. Highly recommend it!
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