Ethan Canin – Off the Book event

A Review

By Bethene Callahan

I actually sat in my car for a few minutes after the Ethan Canin event at the UCA and recorded my thoughts and key takeaways from the evening's discussion.  I'm sad that I cannot recall the very first trinket heard, as it made sense to me.  I decided to just listen and to forgo any note taking.

Ethan Canin and Bruce Delphe sat at a table in front of us and had an exchange that went back and forth between a playful bantering conversation and discussion.  For a good share of the hour and a half, it seemed to be all about Bruce's amazement at the characters, how certain passages caused him to stop reading to ponder on the words and the parallel to his life.

Before learning of the event, I had not heard of Ethan Canin or the novel The Doubter’s Almanac so I read a few pages of it online and found myself drawn into the story. Ethan read from his novel for a few minutes and again found I was easily drawn into the story.  Bruce revealed that he has read the novel twice and found new passages that caught his attention in his second reading.

It was good to witness the mutual respect that the two men had for each others craft; the experience they have because of their work - that they tout practicing your craft- Ethan writes at minimum 5 days a week, 20 - 25 minutes, gets into character first then delves in.  The name dropping was interesting. Ethan had Danielle Steele as an English teacher in high school and Bruce was at Juilliard the same time as Kevin Kline who acted in the movie the Emperor’s Club. The Emperor’s Club was based on Ethan’s short story The Palace Thief.

Ethan stated that he doesn't always know what the characters are going to do or be until he actually writes it, same with the story line.  Bruce said that as he is composing he thinks about who his audience will be and will they like it and by audience he is referring to the musicians that will be playing the music he composes.

Ethan and Bruce write for themselves - Ethan admitting that he does feel some pressure at having to produce for a contract- but they enjoy the  creative process and both men do go back and read their creation as a whole when done, unlike actors,  some of whom do not watch their movies when complete.  I wish I had taken some notes, I haven't read Doubter's Almanac, didn't need to beforehand as this was not so much a book review as it was a discussion on the creative process from two experienced creatives of different genres that really are not so different, music and writing.

In retrospect, I realize I got a lot more out of my "Artist’s Date" than I realized Friday evening.   I now think the format was a thought provoking way to hold a discussion. The event was well attended, the audience was enthusiastic with their questions and comments during Q&A.