Kaitlyn Greenidge on Autobiographical Fiction and New Novel

In the new issue of Talking Writing, fiction writer Kaitlyn Greenidge, who visited JSC in March, talks in her essay "Something Prickly and Strange" about the ways in which autobiography interact with the writing of fiction.  She discusses at great length, too, her new novel, about an African American family who move from Boston to the Berkshires to take part in an experiment whereby they raise a chimpanzee with their own children.  Kaitlyn read an excerpt from this novel when she visited JSC, an altered version of which will appear in the spring issue of Green Mountains Review.

Here is an excerpt from Kaitlyn's essay:

When I first began writing, it was for a reason I think a lot of younger people start writing: revenge. Wanting to set the record straight.

Although I’ve never written a story based strictly on a memory, my earliest pieces were inspired by times in my life when I felt that an emotional justice had not been served or an emotional truth had been ignored. I wrote to feel justified as a person—as someone with valid feelings and opinions, someone whose observations and understanding of the world were real and credible.

In the long run, revenge can be a severely limiting motivation. I remember trying to start a novel in high school and worrying that I would soon run out of autobiographical material. I couldn’t conceive of writing a main character or narrator who didn’t have my same thoughts and feelings and family background.

As I became more practiced at writing—and especially as I read more—I found that when I read fiction I perceived as coming from that desire for reckoning, it left me dissatisfied. The work might be spirited and energetic, but I ended up feeling emotionally exhausted and embarrassed—for myself and for the writer.

Read the rest of "Something Prickly and Strange" here . . .

Also, read the companion essay written by Kaitlyn's sister, acclaimed playwright Kirsten Greenidge, "Something Wonderfully Dionysian."