I had no conception that they were just a couple of kids my age who were doing this DIY thing in a storefront. …I was in awe of Legs and John Holmstrom. Fournier interviewed Liz for punk zine Razorcake’s Paging All Punks, “a new series focused on interviews with writers about their involvement in the punk scene.” Their conversation touches on Liz’s involvement in the New York City and Washington, DC punk scenes, punk’s influence on her life and writing, jobs, being poor, Maine, and lots inbetween. Darger and Chaplin and Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hecht and others were all in Chicago at the same time: what if their paths crossed in some way? And while I always try to create as authentic and absorbing a portrait of a period as I can, I love playing with all the what ifs of history. I would add “fulfilling,” but can a sandbox be fulfilling? I love research, searching for and delving into primary sources in hopes of discovering some nugget of information that’s somehow gone unnoticed, that I can then use in a story. What do you think its power is, for writer and reader?Įlizabeth Hand: Well, as you know yourself, history is an immense sandbox for a writer to play in.

You’ve long been drawn to this kind of fiction and its possibilities. John Crowley: Historical fictions are designed largely as a sort of medley: true details of time and place, actual persons of the period treated as fictional characters with their own point of view, invented persons who interact with the historical ones, real events that will form memories for the real people and for the fictional ones. historical fiction, Darger as a character, the outlandish and outsiders, and much more. Boston Review featured a review of Curious Toys and a discussion between Elizabeth and author John Crowley, touching on speculative vs.

Wylding hall by elizabeth hand