Interview Questions by Chelsea Zhu
Interview Answers by Donna Seaman
About Donna Seaman
Donna Seaman is Editor in Chief for Booklist. A recipient of the Louis Shores Award for Excellence in Book Reviewing, the James Friend Memorial Award for Literary Criticism, and the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, Seaman is a member of the Content Leadership Team for the American Writers Museum, and an adjunct professor for Northwestern University’s MA in Writing and MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs. Seaman’s author interviews are collected in Writers on the Air: Conversations about Books and she is the author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists and River of Books: A Life in Reading. Â
About River of Books
With the infectious curiosity of an inveterate bibliophile and the prose of a fine stylist, Donna Seaman charts the course of her early reading years in a book-by-book chronicle of the significance books have held in her life. River of Books recounts Seaman’s journey in becoming an editor for Booklist, a reviewer, an author, and a literary citizen, and lays bare how she nourished both body and soul in working with books. Seaman makes palpable the power and self-recognition that she discovered in a life dedicated to reading. (Ode Books, Prickly Paradigm Press/University of Chicago Press)
Chelsea Zhu (CZ):River of Books touches upon the interconnectedness of reading and writing; that being said, what are some unexpected moments where you've seen books so different from each other, such as in their genres, time periods, and cultures, interact and resonate in an extraordinary way?
Donna Seaman (DS): This is such an intriguing question. I feel that each book I read is a puzzle piece that snaps into place, adding to the big picture of literature and the human experience. I see this connectedness, in particular, between environmental writing, which presents the facts about the living world, and poetry, which expresses what it feels like to be alive in nature as poems illuminate sensuous impressions, thoughts, memories, and emotions stirred by being by the sea or among trees or beneath the stars or in the presence of an animal. Reading scientifically informed nonfiction about wildlife and plants and forests and insects deepens one’s appreciation for the insights and metaphors of poetry and reading poetry attunes us to the implications of the wonders science reveals. The more we learn about the living world, the more obvious our destructive impact as a species becomes. It’s crucial to understand and respond to the many environmental threats we face. Sometimes it takes a poet to fully awaken us.
CZ: I noticed the fascinating river metaphor in your book title; in what ways can we imagine writing as water or transforming rivers into a form of art?
DS: The title and the river metaphor, which appears throughout the book along with reflections on the actual rivers I’ve lived alongside, came about when I started thinking about the role books play in my life. I thought a lot about how, as a book review editor for Booklist, and a book critic, I’ve stayed in one place, but have been immersed in many places and many lives through reading. This made me think about the famous lines from the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus:
Just as the river where I step
Is not the same, and is,
So I am as I am not
But more broadly, writing is fluid and ever-flowing like water, and like water, writing fills empty spaces. Every poem, story, essay, biography, memoir, novel, and work of history and inquiry flows from all that has gone before and will be connected to all that will appear. Book by book, we tell the story of life and try to make sense of it.Â
There are many splendid writings about rivers that enable us to see rivers as earth-wonders, life-sustainers, civilization-definers. The role of rivers is beyond measure, and I think every enlightening work written about rivers helps us see them as the grand and essential works of living art they are.Â
CZ: As you reflect on your experiences rich with literature, what are some new insights you have found out about yourself while writing River of Books?
DS: The most striking thing was to see how consistent I’ve been in my love for literature, starting from the day I found myself able to read. To spend significant time reading and writing has been the goal and organizing principle of my life. I was also struck by what I found when I revisited the journals I kept from a very young age through graduate school. As someone who dwells on her shortcomings and failures, working on River of Books offered me a more positive view on my past.Â
CZ: How do you enjoy everything that literature has to offer through your roles as an editor, author, and reviewer?
MD: Magazine work is exciting and rewarding. It can also be relentless, the deadlines punishing. To counter that, I always remind myself to focus on the many pleasures of being an editor for Booklist. It is a gift to be immersed in the world of books, to witness the continual flow of new books, to read and write about books, and to work with others who are doing the same with the same dedication.Â
I learned to write through reading. Editing other people’s work has made me a better reader and a better writer. There’s much to enjoy in all of these worthy undertakings. I hope everyone who participates in Polphony Lit experiences this. It’s so strengthening to have one’s intellect wholly engaged and to be part of a community devoted to the literary arts, to be involved in a meaningful and beneficial endeavor. To help each other express ourselves clearly and impactfully, to work together to nurture craft, creativity, and consciousness.
CZ: What is a scene, character, or pattern you've noticed in reading that continues to inspire you?
DS: I’m continually inspired by the profound mindfulness of writers – their great receptivity to the world, their curiosity, and determination to discover the truth, whether they’re searching for hard facts or nuanced feelings. I’m inspired by the ravishing inventiveness of poets and fiction writers, the images they create and the subtle aspects of our inner lives they understand and illuminate. I’m inspired by astute and gorgeous descriptions, wit, and psychological acuity. As I’m writing this, I’m looking at the shelves of books that surround me and thinking I could open any number of them and find a passage that resonates with me. But lately, at events for my book, people have been asking me what to read for comfort and clarity in this time of upheaval, weaponized lies, disasters, and chaos. I find myself suggesting the ringing insights, lucidity, and grace of poet Mary Oliver. Here’s an example pertinent to our exchange about writing and reading: "Breakage" by Mary Oliver.
