Kathryn Ma: All That Work
My guest author this week, Kathryn Ma, is the author of All That Work and Still No Boys, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award. She’s the first Asian American to win in the forty-year history of the award, one of the country’s most prestigious literary awards for first time authors. Curtis Sittenfeld, author, American Wife, says of All That Work, “With subtle intelligence and wry humor, Kathryn Ma brings us characters whose lives are complicated—in all the best ways—by family, race, immigration, and quirks of personality. These wonderful stories have the resonance of truth even as they make you see the world in new ways.” – Meg
It took me ten years to write the stories in my first book, and why shouldn’t it have? After all, it took me ten years to become a good lawyer, which is what I was before I began writing, at forty, and although I wished that my apprenticeship as a writer would go faster and more easily than my last gig had, I suspected that it probably wouldn’t and so dug in for the long haul. “How’s that book coming along?” many a friend or cocktail acquaintance would ask, and I’d laugh and change the subject, not wanting to bore or prattle.
I liked being a lawyer, or parts of the job, anyway, like the teamwork and the libraries and the paycheck, and had worked hard at it until I couldn’t stand not writing anymore, and so I packed up my Bekins boxes and set up a little office a half-mile from my house where the siren call of the laundry basket wouldn’t lure me to my doom. It seems there had been another great seducer, biding her time for forty years—the Muse or the Pen Whisperer or, more accurately in my case, the Pest—who refused to sit down and be quiet. And so I turned away from my familiar life with only a yellowed computer, a particle board desk that weighed as much as a car, and a very nice halogen lamp that I lifted from my credenza on my way out of the law firm to begin my life as a writer.
The office was my security blanket. I was used to leaving for work every morning and I figured that if I had a place to go to everyday, I could pretend I was not on a fool’s errand. I had made enough money to afford childcare and knew that my children would be fine without me. I had no doubts on that score—one of the many benefits I’ve reaped from good, old-fashioned feminism. Every morning I went to the office, sat down with a pot of tea, and coaxed out stories. It was, at last, a beginning.
Once in a while, I took a class. A teacher advised me: “if you don’t do an MFA, you’ll probably get to the same place eventually, but if you do the degree, you’ll get there a lot faster.” It made perfect sense, but I couldn’t do it. I had three children and parents to care for, and guilt in abundance over having given up my income. Guilt, by the way, is no match for the Pest.
As it turned out, going slowly was the best thing for me, because it took me the decade to find out what I wanted to write. I wrote many stories and two novels, and with each page, the way opened. The stories in my book are mostly about Chinese-Americans with complicated families. As I am a Chinese-American woman from a large family, it seems crazy to admit that it took me ten years to net this material and lay it out for dissection, but it did, and I’m grateful. The oldest story in the book, “Gratitude,” began as a story about my German Jewish mother-in-law and eluded me for days until I changed her into an old Chinese lady. The newest story in the book, about a Chinese tour guide who takes an adopted Chinese girl back to her orphanage for a visit, sprang forth with a bound, Ariel the sprite released from his cloven pine, freed by me to do me service. I knew, writing it, that I had reached into the heart.
“Congratulations,” my caller told me. “You’ve won the Iowa Short Fiction Award. We are publishing your book in September.” I was overwhelmed but not astonished. I knew the work was taking me somewhere. Ten years. Ten stories. A lifetime. – Kathryn
Posted in Author Stories
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Kathryn, this is a great story, and very inspiring … I will be sure to pass it along to my writing students. Can’t wait to read the book!
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Kathryn–I admire the patience and dedication you brought to the practice of writing. As a writer going on year nine, you have inspired me to keep at it. I can’t wait to read your collection. Congratulations!
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 am
Hey Kathryn. Thanks for sharing your experience. That gives the rest of us wannabes some hope. Buns in the chair, fingers on the keyboard — guess that’s what it takes, in part. I want to “grow up” to write like you do. Congratulations on your book and its well-deserved recognition.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Wonderful post Katherine. I was in Bookshop west portal today, bought your book and put your reading on my calendar. I have a VERY similar story – and I’m in Womba, so hopefully our paths will cross one day and we can share more… best, Joan
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:44 am
Kathryn…You are truly an inspiration, and I thank you for sharing your experience and insight. Your neighborly encouragement is much appreciated, and I hope to ‘take a page out of your playbook’ and make something happen on that blank screen that loves to glow with promise in my direction. I am so looking forward to reading your book, and send you heartfelt congratulations on your award and your publication.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Thank you for posting this, it is very inspirational. I am going to link to it from my blog. I am an attorney who has always wanted to be a writer, just a writer! But I needed to make a living and so I went into the law, which I like and am good at, but my real passion lies with writing. I told myself at the beginning that I would work hard in my legal career, save up money, and retire early so that I can just write and travel like I’ve always wanted to do (and did in college). I sometimes feel trapped, thinking I will never get to do the one thing I’ve always wanted to do. It is so nice to read about someone who has done that exact same thing – it is possible!! I am going to order this book (I love reading and writing short stories best of all) and Ms. Ma, if you’re reading this, thanks for being an inspiration to me – I can really relate to you.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Congrats! I will look for your book and your personal story is very inspiring.
It doesn’t matter when it happens — the point is that if it happens in your lifetime that you become a successful writer, that’s the goal.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:49 am
wow, I ran a bit of a web search to see if this is the same Kathryn Ma I knew in junior high in LA- your family moved to Hacienda Heights and I visited you there a few times . I got a flyer from Lone Mountain Readings and lo and behold – I’m prtty sure it’s my old friend. I used to visit you occasionally at Stanford when we were undergrads; I worked for the psychology department there one quarter and saw you when I was running some experiment in cognition, wound up going to UC Berkeley and attended summer sessions at Stanford. right age, right combination of places and interests, and your family were the only Chinese Quakers I knew. I was a teenaged peace activist and remember telling you, “I love the Society of Friends!” I’m in Berkeley raising my 15 year old and doing some writing, mostly nonfiction but maybe this is enough to inspire me to really pull it together. I’ve known you as Kay, Kathy, and Kathryn and now we’re in the second half of life and wow I say again, the Iowa Short Fiction Award. I think I’ll make this reading at USF. write if you find this note. warmest regards, Judith
February 27th, 2010 at 1:08 am
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’m another hard-working lawyer mom (3) who thinks she should be writing fiction, so it struck a chord. You are my local inspiration, now. Wishing you all the best!
March 8th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
>I’m another hard-working lawyer mom (3) who thinks she should be writing fiction, so it struck a chord.
Jump in, LeAnn – the water’s … well, cold, but refreshing!