EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Kay Kenyon
[Interviewer's Note: This
is a
series of interviews featuring the contributors of Shine: An
Anthology of Optimistic SF edited by Jetse de Vries.]
Kay Kenyon’s latest work, published by Pyr, is a sci-fantasy quartet beginning with Bright of the Sky, a story that introduced readers to the Entire, a tunnel universe next door. Publishers Weekly listed this novel among the top 150 books of 2007. The series has twice been shortlisted for the American Library Association Reading List awards. The final volume, Prince of Storms will appear in January 2010. Her work has been nominated for major awards in the field and translated into French, Russian, Spanish, Czech and audio versions. Recent short stories appeared in Fast Forward 2 and The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two. She lives in eastern Washington state with her husband. She is the chair of a writing conference, Write on the River, and is currently working on a fantasy novel. All of her work has happy endings, except for those with characters who, alas, must die.
interview. First off, what’s the appeal of science fiction for you?
CT: What made you decide that you
wanted to write science fiction?
KK: Frankly, I thought it would be easier
to break into publishing in a genre than in mainstream, and science
fiction was my favorite genre. What I didn’t realize was how deep and
demanding the science fiction audience is. It wasn’t easy to break in;
there were lots of writers on the make looking to publish an sf novel
or two. But I genuinely loved science fiction. Early on, I had the sense
that the field would be less hide-bound than mainstream and other
genres.
I could give my imagination free reign. (That part turned out to be
true.)
CT: What made you decide to contribute
to the Shine anthology? Was Jetse’s theme difficult to write for?
KK:I was chatting with Jetse in a bar
in Calgary and I said, “I don’t suppose you’d like a story about
a garbage patch?” I had already written this story and when I heard
of the Shine theme, I wasn’t sure he’d find the story optimistic.
It is, after all, about garbage. But then I realized he was going after
stories that leave one with hope and it was OK, even preferable, to
have that hope be hard won. But my story makes the future look more
bleak than others in the anthology. Jetse’s theme and his contention
that science fiction has become unbalanced in recent years has given
me a lot to think about. Pessimism is a great fictional game board but
writers shouldn’t make it the default setting for plots. (Note to self:
don’t have a default setting.)
CT: In your Locus interview, you
mention
that the idealism in Socialism led you to become an idealist. Could
you elaborate on that? How is optimism a positive aspect in your life?
How can optimism become a harmful thing?
KK: I admired my father and his classic
socialism enormously. He was not only a political idealist, he was also
a humanist, and I saw his generosity in everyday things as well as the
big scale. He believed that revolution would happen in the voting booth.
It never did. But even so, I have always had a subterranean fascination
for utopias and a better way — a much better way than we have
now. I explore optimistic possibilities in fictional worlds to express
my hope for good and transcendent outcomes. This attitude has kept me
from becoming cynical. Cynicism saps one’s vitality and engagement with
the world, and I intend to fight the tendency. Can optimism be harmful?
Sure. At the extremes, it can lull us into conformity. Unexamined, it
can blind us to the need for change.
CT: How has politics influenced your
writing?
KK: Maybe because my early years were
so full of fiery political viewpoint, I’m leery of political ideology.
And as for polemics in fiction–not my favorite sort of story. On the
other hand, you never escape political issues; it’s just that in fiction
I prefer to see the sides of issues explored rather than hammered upon.
After my first novel, The Seeds of Time, which was a manifesto
for environmentalism, I decided to follow my heart more than my head
for subject matter. Some writers do a beautiful job of dealing
with highly political issues; Paul Scott in The Jewel in the Crown,
comes to mind. If you are that good, go for it. In my own writing, I’m
afraid I’ll end up fictionalizing what should have been an essay.
CT: Do you think science fiction is
capable of changing the world? How?
KK: Well, if more people read it, perhaps
it could change the world! Science fiction opens doors for us to see
in different ways; it helps us keep an open mind. Then too, in a fair
treatment of alien cultures we extend our acceptance over people/beings
who are unlike us. That speaks to compassion and tolerance. And
exploring
ways to solve problems is, as Jetse has argued, a natural field for
science fiction. I agree, but at the same time I want to say that I
think science fiction is good enough just for enriching literature;
it doesn’t have to have a purpose.
CT: “Castoff World” combines
two elements–artificial intelligence and technology that gathers
non-biodegradable
materials. What made you decide to combine these two? In your opinion,
how feasible is this kind of technology?
KK: There are two approaches to
artificial
intelligence, top down (build the biggest computer you can and fill
it with knowledge) or down up (build something small and flexible and
let it learn). I hold with the latter approach because it’s cooler and
because it seems that the resulting AI would be full of compassion after
stubbing its toes into chair legs for years! And as for nanoscale
processes
for ocean clean-up, I wanted–mixing my metaphors here–to make lemonade
out of garbage, and therefore looked for the hopeful side of a young
girl marooned on a floating garbage patch. Both technologies are not
only feasible sometime in the future, I believe they are almost
inevitable.
CT: As someone who’s written both
novels and short stories, which area are you more comfortable with?
KK: Novels. When writing short stories
I usually end up trying to cram a novel into them. That is, layered
characterization and big milieu. I don’t think this is the point of
short stories but I don’t seem able to help myself.
CT: Do you make a firm distinction
between fantasy and science fiction?
KK: I look at magic and science and think
I do know the distinction. I might not know how to shelve a few
books, though. And on the topic of shelving, it’s interesting to me
that the retail environment is changing. Some outlets make no
distinction
between the genres at all, not even between sf/f and mainstream. There
are no genre sections at Amazon, Walmart, Costco. If the boundaries
are blurring, I’m all for it.
CT: Anything else you want to
plug?
KK: Well, here is a bio that mentions
my latest books, if you want:
Kay Kenyon’s latest work is a science
fiction series with a fantasy feel. The lead title, Bright of the
Sky, was one of Publishers Weekly’s top books of 2007. The series
has twice been shortlisted for the American Library Association Reading
List awards. Rounding out the quartet are A World Too Near,
City Without End and Prince of Storms. They are available
from Pyr and Audible.com. Other novels, including Maximum Ice
and The Braided World were shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick
and John W. Campbell awards. Her website is www.kaykenyon.com
where
she regularly blogs on writing fiction.
Related posts:
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Han Song
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jamil Nasir
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Mari Ness
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jason Andrew
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Holly Phillips
Filed under: Interviews
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Kenyon’s interview is as interesting and intriguing as her writing. I don’t know about her claim to keeping “politics” out of her writing — I’m not sure it is ever possible to keep your politics out of what you write. It is true, though, that she doesn’t write the kind of obvious and in-your-face agenda-driven science fiction that seems to appear all too often in these days of polarization. I’m not looking to be politicized in what I read — I want a great story well told. Kenyon has always delivered that, in spades.