Nancy Haverington Q & A with Eastern Iowa Review
Chila: How did you come up with the idea for "The Healing"?
Nancy: “The Healing” was inspired by the actual experience. The image of suffering and desperation in that little sea of humanity combined with the image of the healer (false or true) empowered by their belief haunted me until I wrote it.
Chila: I've personally found that it's tough to combine a religious theme with believable lyricism. But you've done it admirably well, hence the reason we enjoyed the essay as much as we did. Is there a secret to it? Is the idea to write it like a piece of fiction even though it's true? Or perhaps to focus more on symbolism, illusion, etc.?
Nancy: I agree, it’s difficult. Yet writers from Donne to Dillard have written beautifully lyrical works with religious themes. You ask a really good question. I don’t know that I can answer it, but this is what comes to mind. It feels redundant and a little embarrassing trying to add lyricism to flowers. Lyrical expression tends to turn to schmaltz when focused on the flowers. But wrestling with the roots – the unseen, the unspoken, the unspeakable, the necessary – has the potential to conjure lyricism that delivers some sensual truth.
Chila: That's a great observation, Nancy. Also, you're a playwright. How does this "play into" writing this type of piece?
Nancy: My playwriting brain plays into everything I write. I hear music – harmony or cacophony – and rhythm in language. When I commit what I hear to paper, if the language of the thing overpowers the story, the action, then it has to be some sort of lyrical work. I find poetry deadly in drama, so it’s going to be this or that.
Chila: Talk about your PhD studies. Why Emerson?
Nancy: Barring catchy quips suitable for Hallmark cards and coffee mugs, Emerson has got to be one of the most boring and frustrating of American writers. His story is what nabbed me. The paradox of his undying optimism and grief-stricken life is what holds me. And his personal connection to nature inspires me. I think the intensity and depth of his experience forced poetic expression which makes some philosophers averse to accepting him as one of their own. But he set the America we’re living and writing in, in motion in prophetic and significant ways.
Chila: Nature seems to be a touchstone in your life, as it often is for me. Do you live in a rural setting? Or were you raised in one? You teach nature/literature at Mass. Audubon. Talk about that for a minute; it's such an intriguing topic.
Nancy: Nature is mother, teacher, source of inspiration, keeper of language, place for the living, home for the dead, spirit – everything, really, to me. I was raised climbing Mount Greylock, jumping off the rocks at Wahconah Falls, gathering greens in the forest, mushrooms for eating, horsetails for medicine, in the Berkshires. I now live in a tiny seaport in a tiny antique mariner’s house I’ve been restoring for fifteen years with pocket gardens that I’ve gotten certified as a mini wildlife habitat.
I love teaching classes on Emerson and Thoreau through Mass Audubon in a barn at a wildlife sanctuary. After reading and discussing a particular work, we walk in the woods with a question or suggestion, then regroup – by the fire in winter - to reflect on our experiences in light of what we’ve read. Combining literature and nature hits some like a bit of an abomination so it’s not easy to fill the barn. But it’s a rich, sometimes transformative experience. Something about reading a book in conjunction with reading nature can give us the sense that we’re also being read by (nature, others). It activates reflection on who we are, what we’re saying with our writing, with our lives.
Chila: What else would you like to share with us?
Nancy: My thanks!
Chila: How did you come up with the idea for "The Healing"?
Nancy: “The Healing” was inspired by the actual experience. The image of suffering and desperation in that little sea of humanity combined with the image of the healer (false or true) empowered by their belief haunted me until I wrote it.
Chila: I've personally found that it's tough to combine a religious theme with believable lyricism. But you've done it admirably well, hence the reason we enjoyed the essay as much as we did. Is there a secret to it? Is the idea to write it like a piece of fiction even though it's true? Or perhaps to focus more on symbolism, illusion, etc.?
Nancy: I agree, it’s difficult. Yet writers from Donne to Dillard have written beautifully lyrical works with religious themes. You ask a really good question. I don’t know that I can answer it, but this is what comes to mind. It feels redundant and a little embarrassing trying to add lyricism to flowers. Lyrical expression tends to turn to schmaltz when focused on the flowers. But wrestling with the roots – the unseen, the unspoken, the unspeakable, the necessary – has the potential to conjure lyricism that delivers some sensual truth.
Chila: That's a great observation, Nancy. Also, you're a playwright. How does this "play into" writing this type of piece?
Nancy: My playwriting brain plays into everything I write. I hear music – harmony or cacophony – and rhythm in language. When I commit what I hear to paper, if the language of the thing overpowers the story, the action, then it has to be some sort of lyrical work. I find poetry deadly in drama, so it’s going to be this or that.
Chila: Talk about your PhD studies. Why Emerson?
Nancy: Barring catchy quips suitable for Hallmark cards and coffee mugs, Emerson has got to be one of the most boring and frustrating of American writers. His story is what nabbed me. The paradox of his undying optimism and grief-stricken life is what holds me. And his personal connection to nature inspires me. I think the intensity and depth of his experience forced poetic expression which makes some philosophers averse to accepting him as one of their own. But he set the America we’re living and writing in, in motion in prophetic and significant ways.
Chila: Nature seems to be a touchstone in your life, as it often is for me. Do you live in a rural setting? Or were you raised in one? You teach nature/literature at Mass. Audubon. Talk about that for a minute; it's such an intriguing topic.
Nancy: Nature is mother, teacher, source of inspiration, keeper of language, place for the living, home for the dead, spirit – everything, really, to me. I was raised climbing Mount Greylock, jumping off the rocks at Wahconah Falls, gathering greens in the forest, mushrooms for eating, horsetails for medicine, in the Berkshires. I now live in a tiny seaport in a tiny antique mariner’s house I’ve been restoring for fifteen years with pocket gardens that I’ve gotten certified as a mini wildlife habitat.
I love teaching classes on Emerson and Thoreau through Mass Audubon in a barn at a wildlife sanctuary. After reading and discussing a particular work, we walk in the woods with a question or suggestion, then regroup – by the fire in winter - to reflect on our experiences in light of what we’ve read. Combining literature and nature hits some like a bit of an abomination so it’s not easy to fill the barn. But it’s a rich, sometimes transformative experience. Something about reading a book in conjunction with reading nature can give us the sense that we’re also being read by (nature, others). It activates reflection on who we are, what we’re saying with our writing, with our lives.
Chila: What else would you like to share with us?
Nancy: My thanks!
Beautiful responses from a thoughtful lady. Many thanks to Nancy! ~ Chila
Nancy Haverington is a playwright whose work has been produced in Newburyport, Boston, and New York City. She has had essays published in Dream International Quarterly and The Labyrinth. She teaches nature/literature classes at Mass - Audubon, and she is writing her doctoral dissertation on Ralph Waldo Emerson at Harvard University.
Nancy Haverington is a playwright whose work has been produced in Newburyport, Boston, and New York City. She has had essays published in Dream International Quarterly and The Labyrinth. She teaches nature/literature classes at Mass - Audubon, and she is writing her doctoral dissertation on Ralph Waldo Emerson at Harvard University.