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#HUNGER ROXANE GAY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS HOW TO#
I definitely struggle with the question of how to write about it in fiction. Has your thinking on this evolved since you wrote these stories? I have definitely just tried to be ethical in terms of writing about sexual violence.
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Rape culture, the question of representation of violence against women, trigger warnings-it’s such a major conversation now. It’s also part of your novel, and something you’ve personally experienced and written about. Sexual violence, as you acknowledge, plays a role in many of these stories. When I’m writing nonfiction, of course I do. I’m thinking about feminism, bodies, sexual violence, relationships, and the like. I think because of my own personal interests you can see connections between my fiction and my nonfiction.
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So when I’m writing fiction, I’m not thinking about “issues” that I want to tackle. I wrote many of these stories well before I ever wrote an essay. In this collection there’s a short story (“Best Features”) about a woman who is overweight and how she thinks about it. Are you working things out in fiction before you tackle them in nonfiction? You’ve tweeted, for example, that your forthcoming memoir, Hunger, which is about your relationship to eating and your body, was particularly difficult to write. It means you have found your voice.Įlements of these stories call to mind autobiographical details, which you’ve written about in essay form. Often we write the same story over and over, in slightly different ways. To look at the stories, I can definitely see: Oh, girl, what were you doing?īut I think that writers have obsessions. A lot of these themes are just around what was going on in my life at the time. Most of these stories were written between 20, when I was going to graduate school in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is deer country. In compiling them, were there obsessions that became clear to you? I noted a lot of recurring motifs: twins deer knives mold water. If having a personality and having opinions makes me difficult, then yes, I am very difficult. Have you ever been referred to as a difficult woman? Oh, definitely. We talked more about Gay’s outlook on 2017 and beyond, and about the stories in Difficult Women: dark, yes, difficult, yes, but also luminous, transporting, and totally worth the effort. It’s like: Why so dark? I mean, have you seen the world? It’s an appropriate response.” “But when women write dark, all of a sudden it’s a thing. Dark stories, then, reflect dark times? “Men write dark stories all the time, and rarely is that darkness obsessed over,” she offers.
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“I think books come out when they’re supposed to, even if they don’t come out when you want them to,” Gay insists. She shelved the project until the success of An Untamed State, and Bad Feminist allowed her to revive it. “I told one, ‘That’s exactly what I’m going for.’” “A lot of editors thought it was too dark and depressing,” she remembers. Difficult Woman proved difficult to sell. New members are still welcome to join us, even if you haven't read the book.ĭon't forget to join our Goodreads group ( https :// /group/show/181574-feminists-of-dublin-book-club.html).Īnd check out our other Meetup for more general discussion.These stories actually predate all that: She wrote them mostly during her days as a graduate student at Michigan Technological University on the Upper Peninsula. If Roxanne Gay were sitting next to you right now, what would you say to her? What do you make of her relationship with her parents"? , or I do." Whaty do you make of this quirk of her writing, how do you understand it?
#HUNGER ROXANE GAY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS SKIN#
Your body is constantly and prominently on display.… Fat, much like skin color, is something you cannot hide, no matter how dark the clothing you wear, or how diligently you avoid horizontal stripes.… People are quick to offer statistics and information about the dangers of obesity, as if you are not only fat but incredibly stupid, unaware, and delusional about your body and a world that is vigorously inhospitable to that body.… You are your body, nothing more, and your body should damn well become less." "When you’re overweight, your body becomes a matter of public record in many respects. How did this book relate to your own sense of body image? Did this meet, or defy your expectations? Suggested discussion questions: - What were your initial thoughts? Is this easy to read? Did it take you long? It will be 'why I'm no Longer talking to White people about race. Next book has already been selected in advanced this this time. Time to meet up and see what you all thought of it. Hunger A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay