If you’ve been keeping up with novelist, poet and short story writer, Rosalind Brackenbury, you might know that she was literary editor at Key West newspaper Solares Hill, and you might know she was Key West’s second Poet Laureate (2014-15), but you probably don’t know that her first job locally was as a deck hand on the Schooner Wolf.
She’s didn’t talk much about her deck hand days, when she and Jessica Argyle, author of No Name Key, got together Dec. 18 2018 to discuss Roz’s new novel The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier. But she did answer a few questions for us, including talking about the real-life letters that inspired her new book.
Q: What was the genesis of The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier?
A: The Lost Love Letters had its genesis in my finding in a rural used book store in France, a copy of Fournier’s embryo second novel as put together by some Italian academics in a sort of proof-style format.
I’d always loved Le Grand Meaulnes (The Lost Domain) and this got me excited – I hadn’t known he was writing another when he went to war. Reading about him brought me to Pauline Benda, his lover from 1912-1914. A French writer friend sent me in Key West an enormous package of books and photo-copied letters and excerpts of writing by and about Pauline. I read, translated, starting thinking about a novel.
It was far the most difficult one I’ve ever written.
The second “layer” – Seb interviewing the old Pauline – came next, as yes, I am fascinated by old age these days! Then a reader in London suggested a third ‘layer’ with Seb in the present. He was a woman at first, but then I wanted the challenge of a male protagonist. And so on, for years…
What fascinates me about juxtaposing history and contemporary stories is the idea that we do all face very similar challenges in life, when it comes down to it – but deal with them in different ways, because of the times we live in. I’m hooked on writing about war and its aftermath, having been born in the middle of one – but this time it’s World War I. I’m a historian by training but a novelist by choice – a sort of hybrid, I suppose.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’ve just finished a lot of edits on a novel coming out next July, called Without Her. Also edits of a poetry collection Invisible Horses, due out in May. So – looking forward to writing rather than editing!
Q: Where are you when not in Key West?
A: I spent most of the summer months in France and/or England and Scotland. Paris, because it’s great for writing and I’ve always loved it. England, Scotland, because my family and old friends are there. I love Key West for winter weather – yes, becoming a snowbird – and so many friends, and our house here in Old Town that my husband has worked endlessly on, and the ocean – and it’s now my “home port.”
Q: How did you end up in Key West?
A: I went to a poetry reading on Caroline Street 25 years ago, met a man – the rest is history.
~ Robin Wood, Associate Manager
Through Pauline’s love letters, her secrets, and a lost Fournier manuscript, Seb will come to learn so much more – about Pauline, Henri, and himself. For Seb, every moment of Pauline’s past proves to be more inspiring than he could have imagined. She’s given him the courage to grab hold of whatever life offers, to cherish each risk, and to pursue love in his life.
Tuesday, December 11, at 6pm, a presentation and book signing with Andrew Simonet, author of Wilder. Simonet, who will be an Artist in Residence at The Studios of Key West in November and December, will offer, “13 Thoughts on Writing and Fighting.”
Jason Wilder is in permanent in-school suspension for fighting. Meili Wen gets there by breaking a girl’s finger. Jason and Meili don’t just connect; they collide. Two people who would never cross paths—outsiders from radically different backgrounds—they form an exhiliarating, unpredictable bond. When circumstances push, they push back. There’s no plan. And there’s no stopping.
December 5 at 6 pm, a book launch party and book signing for The Catalonia Adventures of Angus and Edmond. Meet the book’s author, Gunna Dickson, and its artists/illustrators. Author proceeds from the launch sales will be donated to Anne McKee Artists Fund in memory of Key West artist and gallery owner Jon McIntosh.
The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid is a passport to the world’s weirdest, coolest, and most mesmerizing and mysterious wonders, presented in a stunning, full-color illustrated journey to 100 real destinations in 47 countries on every continent.
In collaboration with the Key West Film Festival, Saturday, November 17, at 3pm, a book launch party and book signing with Alicia Malone, author of The Female Gaze.
You may have heard the term “male gaze,” coined in the 1970s to talk about what happens to viewers when the majority of art and entertainment has been made by the one gender perspective. So, what about the opposite? Women have been making movies since the very beginning of cinema. What does the world look like through the “female gaze”?
Q: After your book on the Everglades, what made the Gulf a particularly compelling topic to you?
The audacious, Newbery medal-winning Kwame Alexander wants to introduce you to some people – both in his own work and in his new HMH imprint Versify, which showcases voices underrepresented in publishing.
