Christine Hemp on Writing About Happiness

In her presentation, "Yikes! Elysium: Writing About Happiness," Christine Hemp tackles what she describes as a necessary tension between "sunlight" and "the underworld" in fiction and nonfiction writing. Hemp examines how mundane objects such as puzzle pieces can inspire a writer to depict a "joy leading to a new kind of truth." Hemp advises writers to avoid the sentimental in depictions of happiness in order to understand that "the backside of joy is the thing that holds it up."

Listen: Christine Hemp presents "Yikes! Elysium: Writing About Happiness," at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 6/18/07

Caryl Pagel introduces the presentation.

Christine Hemp's essays and poetry are heard on NPR's Morning Edition and are published widely. One of her poems is aboard a NASA mission to monitor pre-natal stars, and her poetry program, which brokers peace between police and youth offenders, has paved new ground in Britain and the U.S. Recent awards include Harvard University Extension's Conway Award for Teaching Writing, a Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship for Literature, the Society for Professional Journalists First Prize for Radio Commentary, and an Iowa Award for Literary Nonfiction. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

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June 19, 2007
Fiction | Nonfiction | Podcasts | Summer Writing Festival

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