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PrintAuthor Audrey Niffenegger casts a spell
"The Time-Traveler's Wife" and "Her Fearful Symmetry" scribe wows attendees at BookSmart Tulsa's author speaker series.
At the cool Philbrook Museum last July 13, magic happened. On an evening when the heat index was 114 degrees, more than a 100 people witnessed author Audrey Niffenegger cast a spell.
The chemistry mix that conjured up this enchanted moment is three-fold. First, the author is the popular and well-received writer of “The Time Traveler’s Wife“ (MacAdam; 2003) and “Her Fearful Symmetry” (Scribner; 2009). Second, BookSmart, led by Jeff Martin, has sponsored prominent author talks, almost monthly, for the last 18 months and his following is growing. Last, the current Philbrook art exhibit is Egyptian burial artifacts that mirror London’s Highgate Cemetery’s influence in “Her Fearful Symmetry.”
Here is a sampling of those in attendance. Karen Grim has just moved to Tulsa from Maryland. She is interning at the Muskogee Creek Nation Behavioral Service. What Grim admires most about Niffenegger is her ability of painting with words. An astute observation. Niffenegger is an artist first, author second. The main impetus for “The Time Traveler” was Niffenegger’s inability to paint “time travel” so she defaulted to writing.
Lee Anna Weaver and Annette Arlington, regulars at Booksmart events attended because they are both Niffenegger and Martin fans. Weaver, a school librarian, and Arrington, a special education teacher, enjoy the love stories that are the heart of Niffenegger’s stories. Not fairytale love, but a genuine relationship that reflects both the dark and sunny, masculine and feminine sides. Quantity of men in the audience, almost as many as women, fortified that their stories ring
true.
Two other women attending were Eileen Husting and Laura Shields. This was their first time at a Booksmart event. The last time they sought an author’s signature, they had to drive to Dallas. Mentioning time on the road, reminded them that they were entranced with the time travel aspect in Niffenegger’s book. Time travel is a popular contemporary subject. Lately, F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was resurrected as a movie. Another movie, “Back to the Future” and TV show “Quantum Leap” have captured a large following. Time stopped when Niffenegger spoke.
Concurring with the sense of timeliness, Julia and Will Thomas (local author) listened to the red-headed, delicately-framed Niffenegger explain why oddities engaged her from a very early age. Thomas, author of five novels and no stranger to the unconventional, explores murder, a la Sherlock Holmes. His latest is the “Black Hand” (Touchstone, 2007).
Niffenegger offered the best description of how a book idea creatively develops that I‘ve ever heard. “A character emerges.” Then says Niffenegger “I ask questions. Who are your friends and family? Where did you go to school? Are you scarred from some previous experience?” So the story evolves.
Look for review of “The Fearful Symmetry” online at TulsaPeople. com. Look, too, for times and venues of visiting author talks organized by BookSmart and the Center for Poets and Writers.
September list of visiting authors :
9/2 Jonathan Safran Foer, “Eating Animals”
9/14 Anna Mitchael, “Just Don’t Call Me Ma’am”
9/27 Joshua Ferries, “The Unnamed”
9/24 Sue Monk Kidd and Michael Cunningham at OSU-Tulsa
