How Bay Area authors remain creative while facing pandemic
William Shakespeare wrote “King Lear” while quarantined during the Black Plague.
That’s according to internet memes, and that has left writers — myself included — feeling a bit lacking. In the time of COVID19, how could any of us channel the Bard?
I spoke with several Bay Area authors with new and forthcoming books about how they’re staying creative.
After weeks of a “‘Groundhog Day’ of pajamas, anxiety and CNN,” Brad Balukjian had sunk into the “collective grief.” He did what he always does when he gets stuck: “I did nothing.”
“Specifically, I got out my little round gray pillow on the floor, set it in the middle of the room, and sat crosslegged to meditate,” said Balukjian, author of the “The Wax Pack,” published this week. “The moment I close my eyes and tune in to my breath, an onslaught of thoughts and feelings suddenly surface, no longer confined to my subconscious. Like a toddler dumping all their toys out of a basket, the sheer abundance of thoughts is initially overwhelming, but after a few moments I start sifting through, noticing the ones that seem interesting. And sometimes a new toy appears, one that I never knew was in the basket.”
C Pam Zhang adopted the opposite tack: breaking into “spontaneous jigs … a flailing of the body for a few minutes between tasks.”
“It’s a mode of expression that doesn’t require me to be articulate or intelligent — two usual crutches that aren’t helping me through this pandemic,” said Zhang, author of the forthcoming “How Much of
These Hills Is Gold.” “Dancing releases some of the pentup energy that usually sits in my shoulder and makes me too jittery to sit down and write.”
Rachel Levin’s family goes for walks together. The other day, they came up with an idea for a board game involving mountains, trees, snow; players have all their gear to get to the top and adventures on working their way down,” said Levin, author of the recently released “Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews.”
“We’re going to make it into a prototype and sell to Mattel,” she joked.
Levin also started a new Friday tradition: baking challah. “Despite coauthoring a Jewish cookbook, I don’t often do it. Cooking dinner feels like a separation from the work and angst and tension of the day.”
Poet Tess Taylor questioned what it means to be creative, when every day feels like a radical reinvention of life.
“These days, helping myself and my family steer a way around sadness, anger, grief, loneliness, boredom or despair feels like its own art form. This emotional work of getting around and through takes time, even before the time of sitting to write, or dreaming of a poem,” said Taylor, author of the forthcoming “Rift Zone.”
She still gets up early to work and think, but once her family is awake, she needs to be present for what’s happening to all of them. Her creativity manifests in getting low on the floor, building forts or a puppet theater, playing with crayons, and walking outside and identifying plants or planting the garden.
The other day, her 4yearold daughter wanted to cut out paper hearts and march them in a line across a piece of cardboard. “We need this, Mom,” she said. “We need this heart parade.” “The truth is, what Emmeline needs, I need too — some release, some being together, some time to see the clouds or go on a scavenger hunt,” Taylor said.
Bonnie Tsui is also juggling deadlines and homeschooling her two sons.
“I never knew that time and space could expand and contract in the way that it has been this past week — the hours are at once long and short, and our house fills and empties itself depending on how crazy the boys are feeling at any given time,” said Tsui, author of the forthcoming “Why We Swim.”
“The mornings are the most creative time and I soak it up. There was a moment today when I realized that both of my children were bent over their pages writing — my younger son putting together an exuberant letter to his teachers, my older son dreaming up a story about ‘a great cash robbery.’ I can feel this intensity radiating off from them. It’s always funny to get a window into the weird minds of kids and how they think. I have been having a hell of a time writing lately, but being with them is making me get creative.”