Page Turner Focus: Ed Park

Ed Park was one of the first participants in the Beatrice reading series, so I’m looking forward to Saturday’s “Page Turner,” the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s inaugural literary festival, as an opportunity to see him again—he’ll be part of a panel on reviews (books, music, and film) and what cultural impact they actually have in this day and age. If you haven’t read his debut novel, Personal Days, yet, I encourage you to give it a try. (And thanks again to Ken Chen and Vyshali Manivannan at the AAWW for sending this Q&A with Ed so I could share it with you.)

So, what’ve you been working on lately?

Another novel—different scope and mood from the last one.

We all know that writers can be exceptionally good at procrastinating when they should be writing. What do you typically do to procrastinate?

This week I spent far too long watching YouTube clips of old Sandra Bernhard appearances on Letterman. I just couldn’t get enough.

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11 November 2009 | events |

Page Turner Focus: Porochista Khakpour

This Saturday, November 14, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop will be hosting Page Turner, its first literary festival—an all-day lineup of panels, readings, and award presentations at Brooklyn’s powerHouse Arena featuring a slew of great writers. I’ll actually be taking part in the festival that afternoon as the moderator of a panel on “queering the Asian-American coming of age story” with Alexander Chee, Abha Dawesar, and Rakesh Satyal, so I hope New York area-readers of Beatrice might be able to come by and say hello. In the meantime, it’s my good fortune to be able to share with you some mini-interviews with a few of the other authors who will be appearing at the festival. (Thanks to Ken Chen and Vyshali Manivannan for putting these together and sending them my way.)

Let’s start with Porochista Khakpour, the author of Sons and Other Flammable Objects. She’s one of four writers who’ll be taking part in a panel called “The New Eclectics,” which promises to be one of the funniest segments of the festival. She lives in New York City except when she’s out in Pennsylvania teaching creative writing at Bucknell.

So, what’ve you been working on lately?

Grading! Also working on my second novel, doodling some essays, trying to resurrect hopeless short stories.

We all know that writers can be exceptionally good at procrastinating when they should be writing. What do you typically do to procrastinate?

If it’s not the internet or just worrying a lot, then it’s the best case scenario: turning from one form of writing to another. I really only got into essays and creative non-fiction as a way to avoid writing my second novel. Journalism, in general, has always been my way out from fiction. Writing to avoid other writing… I keep the cheating in the family.

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9 November 2009 | events |