Flora Milford, Op-Ed Editor
Bonnie Jo Campbell can only write when she cares desperately. To get started, her work has to come from a soul place. On Thursday, March 21st, in the World Affairs Center South Lounge, author, Midwesterner, former Beloit Mackey chair, and donkey aficionado Bonnie Jo Campbell welcomed an eager audience into a world she cares about deeply via a talk about her newest novel; The Waters.
This talk, hosted by the Creative Writing Department, began with a jovial welcome from Professor Chris Fink, who was quick to describe Campbell as an author who does many things in her work, but especially does “women and water.” Campbell laughed at this, citing how she only writes when she cares, and these are two topics she cares deeply about.
Campbell started this talk by reading from Chapter Zero of her book – Prologue, which begins with “Once upon a time.” These words are followed by a description of the novel’s Midwest setting, in a swampy area of M’sauga Island, known by locals as “The Waters.” The Waters are home to the novel’s three main characters – all of whom are women – Hermine “Herself” Zook, Rose Thorn, and Dorothy “Donkey” Zook. These women are related in descending order from Herself to Donkey. Campbell described Herself as “an old witch with three daughters” and the other women as her essential compatriots. She further explained how she began this book – something that she has been writing for ten years, but brewing for twenty – as a first-person story following Donkey. In writing it, however, she described how “I found the story was bigger than her.” The Waters in its current version is a third-person novel following the three women, a major change from the once 437 book told through Donkey. Campbell also explained how many people describe her story as a fairytale, something she also did not originally intend for, but now identifies with, citing her recurring use of the phrase “once upon a time.” She added that people sometimes struggle to find a connection with books not completely based in the ‘real world’. “Books about very particular things can affect all of us even if it’s a very strange world. A way to make a story universal is to pay attention to detail.”
Current Poetry Mackey Chair, Kimberly Blaeser, an audience attendant at the talk described how as a poet, she was flabbergasted at the idea of rewriting a novel that was 437 pages. She asked Campbell how much of the novel stayed. At this, Campbell stated, “It makes it dangerous to work on something you started 10 years ago. You wonder, ‘Am I writing something that will keep changing?’ You just have to have faith in yourself. If something interests me and I want to spend time with it, I have confidence I can make the best version for myself of it.” She then described a story she worked on for 24 years. “I kept going back to it.” This story, after over two decades, was published in 2015, in her collection of short stories called Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. She further described how, “When I got it, I knew I had it.”
When asked about her writing process, Campbell stated “I write a draft, take a deep breath, maybe [have] a stiff drink, look at it. Have I brought into the world the best version of it?” She later added, “The way I work is not the way everyone should work. I’m 61 and didn’t figure out how to write till like 38. I only want 10-12 best books. I don’t want any I’m not proud of.”
She also described the process of letting her book go once it’s finished, specifically surrounding the recent acclaim that her book has been getting. She explained when The Waters first started gaining traction, it got negative attention from critics on Goodreads. The more people read it, however, specifically in the literary field amongst critics, the more overwhelmingly positive responses got. She shrugged off both opinions alike, however, stating simply, “Your book has to come to the attention of the right kind of reader.”
After reading from her Chapter Zero, answering a plethora of questions about The Waters, her other stories alike, and her audience’s further musings, Campbell ended her talk – per Kimberly Blaeser’s request, clearly shared by all participants – by reading from Chapter Six, another “once upon a time” section. The talk concluded with fervent applause, followed by a book signing, which Beloit students were lucky to get hardback copies of for free. The Beloit College campus was fortunate to be graced with the former Mackey Chair’s presence once again, something her event’s attendees felt in its entirety.
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