Interview with David Schmader
Hugo House: In a few weeks you'll be debuting a brand-new piece at Hugo House-have you started working on it yet?David Schmader: I've started working on it at least 75 times.
HH: Can you give us a hint of how you're approaching the theme of "Answered Prayers and Other Tragedies"- Literally? Figuratively? Prose? Poetry? Interpretive Dance? None of the Above?
DS: I'm doing a literal-figurative combo platter of prose.
HH: What were your first thoughts on receiving an invitation to write to an assigned theme?
DS: My first thought was "Hurrah!", because nothing gets me writing like an imposed deadline. My second thought was "spooky" (with echoes of "hurrah") because the theme fit perfectly with what I'd been planning to write next.
HH: Any regrets on saying yes?
DS: Not yet.
HH: Could you tell us a little bit about your process-how you approach writing something new?
DS: After making a big, messy, shorthand-ridden list of everything that might possibly be included in a given piece, I begin the process of elimination--finding the components that sing and bounce off each other in unexpected ways, and cutting bits that just sit there. Then comes the actual writing, which is long and hard and typically doesn't end until five minutes before the piece is due.
HH: Tell us 3 non-literary things we don't know about you.
DS: 1. I am the world's greatest housesitter. (I love working in a space that's not my own, plus I'm physically compelled by my German heritage to leave a space at least as clean and orderly as when I found it.) 2. I am a die-hard feminist, but if the election were held today, I would probably vote for Obama. 3. When Lucinda Williams dies, I will travel to wherever she's laid to
rest and pay my respects.
