Marie Devers
English Major '99
On March 24, 1999 writer Beth Kephart came to Saint Joseph's University to read from her first book A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage. The book, a nonfiction memoir about her son, has been nominated for a National Book Award and The Philadelphia Inquirer has named it one of the best books of 1998. During the reading, Kephart spoke on the writing process. She told the story of her next-door neighbor who has read and commented on all of her work. Prior to the reading, Kephart gave an interview where she elaborated on her own writing process.
How did you approach this book differently in comparison to shorter pieces you have written?
The book was not completed as a book. The book is comprised of chapters and essays that were written specifically for my son. I spend everyday with him. I wanted him to know what he meant to me and how terrific he is. I would write these things and I would read them to him at night. And that's what it was for five years. The book began as fragments. There were holes in it. It was a process of figuring out what wasn't there that would make it difficult for a reader to know what had gone on. There were probably six chapters that I had to write. Generally, how do you begin the writing process? I am very rhythm-oriented, so I do listen to music at the beginning of chapters. I take about an hour walk every day and try to find the first sentence either while I1m dancing or while I'm walking. That first sentence, the rhythm of it, pretty much dictates the confines of the rest of the essay. I write the first paragraph and then go into the computer. Was there anything about Jeremy that you found too personal for this book? I leave out most of it. That's the difference in what I do. There's nothing exploitative. There's nothing sensationalistic. I am looking for the moment that everyone can relate to. The interesting thing about non-fiction, the way I try to write it, if there is a scene that is important that I want to convey, I take the weight or the responsibility for the ugliness of that scenario onto myself as a narrator and allow the person or thing that I'm reflecting on to stand somewhat objectively. I could never lower anyone in anything I wrote, but life is not always beautiful and I think it's important to capture that.
What do you try to convey in your writing?
I think its very interesting to be alive and I write pieces that demonstrate that. They are intimate pieces, but it's because the voice is honest, not because I'm saying who I had sex with last night. I think writers look for the big events.
How do you revise your writing?
I do revise extensively, revise for rhythm mostly. I usually have the flow, the theme. But it's the rhythm problems that occur that I keep writing through. I used to record my work and then play it back. By reading it out loud, I know if it's working. Do you have others read your writing while your working? In Crow's Nest, I talk about a woman, my neighbor, who has read everything I ever did. She was very important to me. We lived right next door to each other and we hardly ever spoke. She wrote these long essays on how the pieces made her feel. The beauty of it is that she, herself became a writer.
How do you feel about the response to A Slant of Sun?
The letters I get are not just from parents. Teenagers really love the book. They see themselves in it: "I was like that. I was a little different." And I've gotten letters from people who are going through divorce and they say, "I see my life in that book." That to me is such a grand accomplishment.
Why did you write this book?
I was really writing this book out of impulse and instinct. I decided to publish it because I wanted Jeremy to have a record of what he meant to me. I wanted to give other parents hope. I could never have written a memoir that was a wallowing exploration of life. I'm interested in the universals and I felt that I was writing a story for everyone no matter who their children are.
Beth Kephart is now writing Crow's Nest. The paperback version of A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage will be in bookstores in October.
