Inside The Writer’s Mind: Anita Diamant Interview

As noted in my review of best-selling novel The Red Tent, Anita Diamant is one of my favorite authors. In October 2007, she came to speak to us at Google, which many felt and knew was a privilege.

In September 2009, Diamant will release her new novel Day After Night.

I am thrilled to feature my recent interview with Anita Diamant. I know most of you will be as thrilled to read this as I am to share it with you.

Laura Cococcia: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Anita Diamant: I became a writer when I moved to Boston, after graduate school convinced me that I didn’t want to become an academic. I drifted, happily, into journalism, where I learned to write clearly and on deadline. Since my first dream was to become an actress, it was the bylines that sealed the deal. If I couldn’t have my name in lights, having my work credited in print was way good enough.

Laura Cococcia: When writing The Red Tent, what were the challenges you had – if any – in bringing Dinah and the other characters to life for readers?

Anita Diamant: As a first-time novelist, the whole process was a challenge. I tried not to worry too much about what I was doing, which is easy when no one is waiting for you to produce a book. I wrote The Red Tent as a way to challenge myself as a writer; having produced nonfiction for more than 20 years, I wanted to see if I could create something completely different. Of course, I wanted to see it in print, but after I was told by many agents and editors that I had to finish the book before trying to sell it, that’s what I did.

I responded to the challenge of extreme isolation that goes along with writing fiction by joining a writing group, which remains very important to me. And then there was a bit of a roadblock when agents kept turning down the manuscript…

Laura Cococcia: I imagine that writing historical fiction involves a significant amount of work in that it not only requires extensive factual research but also careful crafting of a surrounding fictional story. Given the discipline that this type (or any type) of writing requires, what would be your one suggestion for aspiring writers looking to kick start their own writing?

Anita Diamant: The advice thing is tricky. People follow so many paths to writing. So read this with a box of salt at the ready: Read more, read everything from everywhere and by everyone. Also, go to plays and movies and concerts and art museums and ball games. Get into a writing group and/or class with wise and gentle peers and teachers. Create deadlines and then keep them. Don’t take yourself too seriously. REVISE. Anything you write can be improved by another draft.

Laura Cococcia: Who is your favorite author?

Anita Diamant: Can’t give you just one. I aspire to the prose of MFK Fischer. I read poetry for inspiration and to clear my verbal palate: Pablo Neruda, William Carlos Williams, Mary Oliver, Walt Whitman. As for fiction writers, almost too numerous to list, but I can start with Jane Austen and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, both of whom seduced me in high school and continue to delight and enchant.

Laura Cococcia: I know many of us are extremely excited about the September release of your upcoming novel, Day After Night. What inspired you to write this novel?

Anita Diamant: Day After Night was inspired by an historical event I first heard about on a tour of Israel nine years ago. In October of 1945, a daring rescue/escape took more than 200 Jewish prisoners from a British-run internment camp south of Haifa, up into the foothills of the Carmel mountains. This incident was a sort of “tipping point” among Jews living in Palestine, who came to agree that the British Mandate was a hostile occupying power that had to be fought.

The story immediately suggested a novel, and because I am always drawn first and foremost to characters – especially to those whose point of view is underreported – I wondered what that experience might have felt like to women in Atlit, which now serves as an education center.

To see photos: http://www.shimur.org/english/article.php?id=27

To read more about Anita Diamant, The Red Tent or Day After Night, please visit Diamant’s site or blog.

To purchase The Red Tent, I’ve included the Amazon.com link: The Red Tent: A Novel

Many thanks to Anita for giving us this unique, fantastic opportunity to hear her expert insights on writing, the importance of reading and the motivation it takes to focus on one’s passion.

Tagged as: Book Reviews, History, Interviews, Laura Cococcia, Writing