Classic!

Los Angeles Review of Books interviews writer Mesha Maren.

You give readers so many really interesting, overt ways to analyze certain sociopolitical issues on the border and the intersections with gender, in particular in Alex’s and Elana’s theses. What was the process of creating these intense ideas and thought processes like for you? What did you draw on, and who influenced you?

Thank you so much for engaging deeply with these ideas! Maybe the best way to answer this question is to look at a photo I have from November 2018 that shows the stacks of books I was keeping readily available on my desk at that time. These include: Kerry Howley’s Thrown, Molly Molloy and Charles Bowden’s El Sicario, Jon Sack and Adam Shapiro’s La Lucha, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Edward Chitham’s A Life of Emily Brontë, Roberto Bolaño’s Amulet, Anne Carson’s Glass, Irony and God, Carmen Boullosa and Mike Wallace’s A Narco History, Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives, Leonard Gardner’s Fat City, Caroline Walker Bynum’s Holy Feast and Holy Fast, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works.

These are just a small selection, really. There are many other texts whose authors I thank in my acknowledgments. For inspiration, I like to look at writers like Robert Stone. He writes action without sacrificing language or imagery or character. There was a lot of literal research that I had to do for Perpetual West (like technical aspects of wrestling and aspects of the cartel world) but there was also a lot of psyche research, work I had to do to be able to tap into each character’s perspective. For Elana, it was really Anne Carson’s writing that broke her open as a person and character for me and showed me what was going on inside. For Alex, it was David Wojnarowicz. For Mateo, it was a combination of Leonard Gardner and Roberto Bolaño. (Katie Smith)

I Love Manchester reviews the play Classic! at Hope Mill Theatre.

Classic! offers a unique retelling of classic novels such as a sea shanty-laden musical rendition of Moby Dick, a comedic parody of Wuthering Heights and a film noir reimagining Oliver Twist and many more! Each actor and actress disappear and reappear in new roles at the drop of a hat or several! Part of the show’s charm is that the audience never knows what to expect, even if they know the novel is being parodied, as over 40 books are given a fresh coat of paint in this comedic reinvention. (Eric Riley)

The winner of The Eleventh Hour Cli-Fi short story competition as published by Stuff mentions Wuthering Heights.