This Week in the Mercury

Tour Guide to Shakespeare

Theater

Tour Guide to Shakespeare

Portland Center Stage's Shakespeare's Amazing Cymbeline.


<i>Madame Butterfly</i>

Theater

Madame Butterfly

Portland Opera Takes on Puccini's Tale of Love and Betrayal



  |  

Monday, March 16, 2009

Books An Interview with Jeff Stewart

Posted by Unpaid Arts Intern on Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 11:14 AM

posted by Arts Intern Matthew Vollono

Tonight at Powell's, it's the second annual Smallpressapalooza, a five-hour marathon reading co-presented by Powell's Books and the Independent Publishing Resource Center and featuring 15 small-press authors reading from a wide range of material.

One of the readers is Jeff Stewart, author of the novel March of Time and Skin and head of Rose City Publishers, a small press located here in Portland.

Mercury: When did you start writing fiction?

Stewart: In the fourth grade.

How long did it take you to write March of Time and Skin? Can you talk a bit about what it was like to manage a day (or night) job and write at the same time? How did you make it work?

The book was written just south of 5 months. I didn’t have a job the first month or so, but the book was initially 488 pages. I took out the first nine chapters for the final copy. I had a few jobs in between those months, one in construction, one a night time pizza delivery driver, and one painting apartment buildings. But the jobs didn’t really interfere with the writing because I had to work to make rent, you know?

Interview continues after the jump.

Your book concerns itself with a young narrator who exists largely on the outside of society. Often he is aimless while other times his goals are quite specific. What was the motivation for such a character?

With a book like March of Time and Skin, the motivation is survival, not only raw survival but standing by the convictions you make, unconditionally.

119e/1237221645-signtime_and_skin_cover_final_layout_1215x339.jpg

Can you talk about the origins of Rose City Publishers? How it came to be? Its goals for the future?

It started out as a way for some of my readers to invest money and put out my work, indie style, but I always wanted to discover other writers. I have a lot of my work to put out, but the thought of putting out other voices that deserve some recognition, writing that would otherwise go unnoticed, that is something I feel strongly about. I would say there are too many good writers waiting tables or pouring drinks or stocking shelves somewhere, and they may not know exactly how to go about getting their work out there, and I wanted to be the place they came to.

Do you find yourself reading more large press stuff (Random House, Knopf, etc) or small presses? What do see as the biggest difference between the two?

I don’t know that there is a difference, other than the editing. Good work is good work.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading a book called Rivethead by Ben Hamper. I never read when I’m writing a book, but I just finished writing another book and one of my friends gave me this Hamper book and I’ve been devouring it.

Jeff Stewart reads tonight at Powell's Books. For more a detailed schedule of tonight's readers please visit Powells' website here.

 

Comments (0)

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use