Katherine Vaz, the 29th Harman writer-in-residence was thrilled to be at Baruch to give readings from her new work, Below the Salt. After eight years of work, this would be her 5th book, based on a true story about the Civil War. Similar to Our Lady of the Artichokes (which she also discussed during the questioning portion of her visit), her new work has some abstract ideas and family ties, and it sounds like a very interesting read.
Photo Credit to Christopher Cerf
The prologue to her story begins with John, and his mother who is sentenced to death. To avoid hunger in jail, they sing and eat their music, surviving off their voices, and the music around them. They feed off the chattering of the birds, and the songs of other villagers who sing for John and his mother. The prologue shows strong family ties and love as John’s mother protects him and cares for him while in prison, refusing cake so that John may have it. She says, “I’ll go hungry but feed my baby.” At the end of their struggle, John’s mother is spared and fined, rather than executed.
The story progresses and John goes off to fight in the Civil War. Vaz did extensive research on the war to find stories that she could incorporate in her book. The details she finds are chilling, such as killing off horses and burying them, but they provide a very clear image of the horrors that happened during this time. She uses many similes, metaphors and personification that add to the power of her writing. She even used her own personal experiences, which provide great details, such as using a wheelchair orchestra to close the love scene in her book. It was easy to follow her writing because her voice and reading were so well done. Her pace, volume and phrasing allowed any listener to visualize the stories of the Civil War she was portraying.
After the reading, she was very receptive to questions. She discussed her process, and writing, but mainly focused on her research. Traveling to places like the Library of Congress, she spent a lot of time searching for and reading first hand documents. Taking stories from these transcripts and using them in her writing for accurate history gave it a very authentic feel. “I’m a big believer in going to the place, feeling it on your skin,” Vaz said. All of her efforts and searching for that feeling paid off in her writing, as the reader gets a very realistic depiction of the feeling of the Civil War.
When asked about Our Lady of the Artichokes and where some of the odd religious rituals came from, she replied that her family had influenced those stories. She grew up hearing the stories of the saints and those superstitions so she was able to write about them in detail. And to aspiring writers, she says, “no one knows where to start.” But she emphasizes finding the heart of the material and going from there. I think using personal stories and history to enhance writing like she did is a successful way to get writing flowing. Her enthusiasm and detailed/abstract writing made for a very entertaining presentation.
