Surrendering
to a Distant Other
As the Novel of Promise competition resumes, we look back at our last winner. Cassandra Krivy Hirsch, a Toronto-born Canadian now resident in Philadelphia, was heading down the home stretch of her journalesque novel, Seagoing Vessels, when she submitted a partial manuscript. Since then, Seagoing was awarded our grand prise and published to acclaim in 2012 by Encompass Editions. We chose Seagoing from among the entries because it so charmingly achieved its author's first goal: to capture the writing style, and through that style the character, of a person who lived long ago and in another place. This may or may not always be the objective of novelists who assay first-person historical narratives, but Ms. Krivy Hirsch gives an intelligent account of how she became dissatisfied with a protagonist too like herself and how she eventually "surrendered" to a more distant other. The careful creation of Marianne Elizabeth Parsons was only part of the author's challenge, as she told us in a short interview. She had also to shape the journal form to a historical novel's demands for plot development and pace. Read a few pages taken from Seagoing Vessels -- Parsons' private diary. And go here to see what Cassandra Krivy Hirsch had to say about her creation.Then go to the Encompass site and see the beautiful book that emerged. And then don't neglect to submit a chapter from your novel-in-progress. Go to the competition page right now! Good luck and good writing!
Robert Buckland, Publisher, Ocean Cooperative Publishing |
Cassandra Krivy Hirsch
talks about the search for her narrator's voice
THE NOVEL OF PROMISE COMPETITION RULES AND PRIZES
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