Amanda Eyre Ward

Amanda Eyre Ward is the author of How to Be Lost, Sleep Toward Heaven, and Forgive Me.

In Spring 2007 Uma Girish interviewed her for California Literary Review. Their opening exchange:

Would it be fair to say that themes like family, loss, and search for identity dominate your writing?

I think my concerns tend to shift and change with each book. I find myself first drawn to an idea, a story or a setting. I try to trust my instincts and not think too much about why I’m interested in women’s Death Row, for instance. From my obsessions characters emerge and then their stories. Theme is something I don’t think about on a conscious level. Certainly, in the final drafts of the book I want to clarify any messages I might be sending but I can’t begin with theme … for me, it’s something that takes care of itself as I listen to the characters.

Read the full interview.

The Page 99 Test: Forgive Me.

--Marshal Zeringue