AN INTERVIEW WITH:
JEFFREY ZABLE
Tell us one of your first experiences where you realized that language had power.
I can’t remember when I first realized that language had power, but in general, I was around fifteen years old when I started reading seriously and continually—books on psychology, history, lit. classics, non-fiction, and poetry. There have been certain writers that I’ve returned to through the years. . . reread over and over. . . people like Charles Baudelaire, Russell Edson, Mark Strand, Charles Bukowski, Paul Bowles, Albert Camus, Isabelle Eberhardt, Steve Richmond. . . Lately I’ve been re-reading Bukowski. His ‘language’ has power. In my opinion, when he’s ‘on’ he ranks with the very best.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would you say?
Keep writing, no matter what. . . Continue to believe that you have something important to say. . . Don’t let anything stop you. . .
Have you ever written under a pseudonym?
I have never written under a pseudonym and have never thought about doing so.
What kind of research do you do for whatever it is you’re writing?
I consider reading other writers to be a form of research. I have always been able to feel inspiration from reading certain writers, several of whom I’ve noted above.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of a different gender to you?
I don’t really know how to answer this, except to say that when I do write for a different gender, I try to be honest and ‘real.’ Notice that I used the word ‘try.’
Do you believe in the dreaded Writer’s Block?
I do believe that one can have Writer’s Block. I’ve had Writer's Block many times and have had it lately. As a result, I’ve focused more on my music. . . Been playing congas and bongos with a Latin Jazz group, and as always, playing Afro-Cuban folkloric music for rumbas and dance classes around the San Francisco Bay Area.
I can’t remember when I first realized that language had power, but in general, I was around fifteen years old when I started reading seriously and continually—books on psychology, history, lit. classics, non-fiction, and poetry. There have been certain writers that I’ve returned to through the years. . . reread over and over. . . people like Charles Baudelaire, Russell Edson, Mark Strand, Charles Bukowski, Paul Bowles, Albert Camus, Isabelle Eberhardt, Steve Richmond. . . Lately I’ve been re-reading Bukowski. His ‘language’ has power. In my opinion, when he’s ‘on’ he ranks with the very best.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would you say?
Keep writing, no matter what. . . Continue to believe that you have something important to say. . . Don’t let anything stop you. . .
Have you ever written under a pseudonym?
I have never written under a pseudonym and have never thought about doing so.
What kind of research do you do for whatever it is you’re writing?
I consider reading other writers to be a form of research. I have always been able to feel inspiration from reading certain writers, several of whom I’ve noted above.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of a different gender to you?
I don’t really know how to answer this, except to say that when I do write for a different gender, I try to be honest and ‘real.’ Notice that I used the word ‘try.’
Do you believe in the dreaded Writer’s Block?
I do believe that one can have Writer’s Block. I’ve had Writer's Block many times and have had it lately. As a result, I’ve focused more on my music. . . Been playing congas and bongos with a Latin Jazz group, and as always, playing Afro-Cuban folkloric music for rumbas and dance classes around the San Francisco Bay Area.