Dave Housley Talks Craft and Kraft with Hobart Lit Journal
The Other Ones author sits down with ASP's own Hannah Grieco (for Hobart) to discuss some of the food-based inspiration for his new novel
In a new interview with Hobart Literary Journal, Dave Housley breaks down the role of food in his new darkly comedic office novel The Other Ones. In a section of extended metaphor, Housley describes TOO as if it were a recipe, and in another section assigns a snack to each of the characters in the office. The interview is conducted by ASP's own Hannah Grieco. Read the full interview HERE. An excerpt follows:
Okay, tell us about your book!
It’s a novel about a group of people whose co-workers win the lottery. The book follows the people who do not win the lottery over the course of the next year as they shoot off in various (mostly bad) directions. It’s told in short chapters from seven different point of view, including a rather incompetent ghost of a man who jumps off the building in the first chapter and then comes back to haunt the lottery winners. I think it’s dark and also funny and nearly every thing that’s annoyed me over thirty some years of working in offices found its way in there as well. I was really happy that Matt Bell called it a “bighearted office comedy” because that’s really what I was going for.
If The Other Ones was a metaphoric recipe, what would the ingredients be?
I love chili, and one thing I love about it is the mix of flavors – you’ve got hot and also sweet, a base and some flavors kind of dancing around at the edges, all of these ingredients eventually combining to make one cohesive thing. I think all of those things could generally be said about this book: it’s a little dark and hopefully a little funny. It's character driven literary fiction but also very much driven by plot, and part of that plot involves two people who buy guns. It’s realistic but there’s a fair amount of mystery and one of the characters is a ghost. So yeah, I think this book is one of those chilis where you run out of a few things and have had one too many chili-making beers to get back to the grocery store so you improvise.
Fiddlin’ Around in Ireland
Nothing buoys the spirits like a walk along Grafton Street. Gray day or sunny, it’s bright with noise and laughter. Loud “hellos,” babies crying, neighborly gossip, rich brogues and lilting Irish airs float up onto the breeze. Our chosen course allowed for a stroll through St. Stephen’s Green. Sunlight dappled the leafy brakes. Inspired by the moment, Lawrence liberated his fiddle and sawed out a hornpipe. He was joined in his performance by a pair of amorous ducks.
On Grafton street we were immediately surrounded by music. A couple of 9 and 10-year-old boys, Donald Reagon and Paul O’Neill, were delighting passersby with smooth moves on the fiddle and concertina. College students with shaved heads played sitars. Old men played jazz. A guitarist somewhere was plucking out George Harrison tunes and singing, “Here comes the sun, little darlin’ here comes the sun.”
On that musical street there was only one poet—a threadbare character who, for a pound or a punt (Irish pound) or nothing at all, would recite a poem by a poet of one’s choosing. I selected Yeats and was honored with “The Fiddler of Dooney”:
“When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea . . .”
An Interview with Elizabeth Hazen, Baltimore Poet and Baker Award Finalist
Baltimore poet, Elizabeth Hazen’s first collection of poems is entitled Chaos Theories. Last week the young poet was announced as a finalists for the prestigious Baker Artist Award in literature. We sat down to talk with her about her experience in Baltimore as an artist and what programs like The Baker Awards mean to artists.
Elizabeth Hazen Announced as a Finalist for the 2019 Baker Award
This year, ASP’s own Elizabeth Hazen, author of the poetry collection Chaos Theories, is a finalist for the $10,000 literary honor. Hazen is a Baltimore resident and ardent supporter of the city’s burgeoning arts scene (named by Thrillist and Departures magazines as one of the best arts cities in America). She received her MFA from Johns Hopkins University and currently teaches English at the Calvert School in Baltimore.