Interview with Tricia Springstubb
By Claire Guyton
Tricia Springstubb is having a very good year.
Last month Tricia won an Honorable Mention in our Katherine Paterson Prize for young adult and children’s writing. And now Andre Dubus III has selected her short story “Levitation” for top honors in our Howard Frank Mosher Prize for Short Fiction. Hunger Mountain’s editor was stunned to see Tricia’s name again when she matched “Levitation” to our list of Mosher Prize entrants (click here for a detailed description of our judging process). We’ve never before seen one writer win two Hunger Mountain prizes in one year. Of course anyone who knows Tricia won’t be surprised in the least. She’s been demonstrating her mastery of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction for decades.
Beginning in 1980, Tricia has published six picture books for early readers, five middle-grade novels, two young adult novels, two books of nonfiction, and short adult fiction in various glossies and journals. Her honors at Hunger Mountain are two more triumphs in a year that includes the top prize in the Iowa Review’s fiction contest and confirmation from Harper Collins that her latest middle-grade novel will be coming out in 2010. And she has a day job!
I spoke to Tricia this weekend about her easy navigation of multiple genres and the story that won her the Mosher Prize.
Q. Can you talk a little about what it’s like to write in both genres?
I first saw myself as writing for adults—that’s where my first publications were. But at the same time, all my day jobs have been working with children—Head Start, the children’s room of a public library, counseling teenagers—and I’m very aware of the power story has in young people’s lives. So I early on began writing for children and teens, too. Also I raised three avid and critical readers. There’s nothing like watching a child get totally lost in a book to make you want to write!
Q. I don’t always find it easy to tell the difference between young adult and adult literature. How do you know when your story is going to be one or the other?
The differences between adult and children’s literature really aren’t that major—length, how complex the plot can be, word choice. I always know, when I begin a piece, who I’m writing to. But the themes I return to again and again are the same—they just play out in different ways. The most important thing to me, no matter what I’m writing, is the voice. Sometimes it takes me three or four rewrites before I find it, but once I do, everything else falls into place.
Q. I’ll ask you the question my friends always ask me: How did you get the idea for this story?
My daughters were all distance runners, and I was always really impressed with the sport, the effort and heart it takes. I’ve also spent a lot of time in schools and seen both troubled kids and dedicated, over-stressed teachers. But I don’t remember the particular spark for this story. I wrote it years ago and put it aside, didn’t do anything with it. Recently I needed a break from another project so I took some old stories out to re-work and this was one of them. When I re-read the draft, I made the connection between the commitment to distance running and the commitment to marriage. I also saw that the story was skimpy in spots, occasionally too glib. So I worked on filling in the gaps.
Q. I was struck by how patient you were with this story, almost relentless. I admire that ability to stay with every thread and give each subplot its due. I find it hard to be so patient myself.
I’m a really, really patient writer. I’ve been writing a long time and I’ve learned not to hurry things anymore. What’s the rush, you know? The point of writing is to try to make something that lasts.
Q. We’re told again and again to “show, don’t tell” in our fiction, but every good story does at least a little telling. I noticed that you do quite a bit of telling in this story, all to the story’s benefit. How much did you think about that?
I do that more and more. An influence of writing for kids—story is so central, you don’t want to lose them. Layers and nuance and beautiful sentences—you want all that, too, but the story really has to move for children. So you wear your heart on your sleeve a bit more. I once assumed that truly “literary” writing was oblique, but I feel that less and less. Why can’t I just say a character’s skirt is too tight? That kind of storytelling feels more natural for me.
Q. For me the story is about hope. Whether we allow ourselves to feel hope when the world is falling apart, what happens if we do, what happens if we don’t.
Yes. I wanted to portray a time of life when some of the things you’ve imagined you would be able to do or would happen to you—well, it’s becoming clear that they won’t happen. What do you do with that knowledge? Where do you go with it? Martha thought she’d save the world and now she realizes she won’t. Also, what can you take from your children? They lead you places you don’t expect. Even—maybe especially—when your children are turning out to be people you never imagined, you learn from them.
Q. We all know how hard it is to write that perfect ending but you certainly accomplished that. I was wondering how you were going to manage it—the obvious options both felt wrong. So I was delighted when you avoided them. Did you always know how it would end?
I always knew the kind of ending I wanted, but I tend to go on too long, and in an earlier draft I’d written past the current final line. A trusted reader pointed this out, told me, “Here’s the real end—cut it off here.” And she was so right. You really need good readers.
Q. Before I let you go, I’d love to know your favorite authors.
Hmm…off the top of my head: Alice Munro, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Strout, Tobias Wolff, Alice McDermott. Neil Gaimon, Patricia Reilly Giff and Emily Jenkins are wonderful children’s writers.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Well, I’m just so honored. I entered these contests because I respect both the judges so much, so I’m thrilled that they liked my work. And I just want to say that I’ve been writing for a long time and I hope I’m writing forever.
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