By Aleksandra Sidorova
Leading up to the interview with a Pulitzer-winning author, the students in English professor Anna Battigelli’s ENG389 class scrutinized each other’s questions to perfection. Skyler Misiaszek, a senior majoring in English literature with minors in history and public relations, said she practiced asking her question about 100 times.
Misiaszek recalled feeling “starstruck” when Jennifer Egan, whose work she had been studying for almost three months, joined the Zoom meeting.
Battigelli told her students on day one that they would interview Egan through Zoom on Nov. 13. Egan’s novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011. Students also read her stories “The Keep,” “The Invisible Circus,” “Look at Me” and “Manhattan Beach.”
“I can think of no one better to learn about the creative process from than Jennifer Egan,” Battigelli said.
THE INTERVIEW
A literature student’s first instinct may be to ask writers about their books, Misiaszek said: “Is (a character) really dead? Why so much sex?” But the real purpose of such interviews is to glimpse into the writer’s mind, Battigelli said, so she pushed her students to ask broader, more difficult questions.
“I don’t think we needed Egan to tell us how to read the novels, because I think we can do that on our own,” Battigelli said. “We studied what she says about literature, the value of literature.”
Egan told the students about her writing process — first, she writes a manuscript by hand, rereading the writing only the following day to get back into the flow. The next time she sees her writing is when she types the manuscript on a computer when the initial draft is complete.
“Seeing a sentence in typeface in front of me invites backtracking,” Egan said.
The first draft is a cliche-ridden mess, she said. She also admitted she forgets characters’ names and personalities during the process.
“Of course, it reads terribly,” Egan said. “The only question is how bad it will be.”
Additionally, Egan requires herself to write a certain number of pages every day, making writing a habit.
Egan also spoke about writing characters with experiences unlike her own in a time when reader demand for diverse characters is high, but authors’ attempts at representation can be met with backlash.
“If we’re not allowed to write about people unlike ourselves, then I have to stop writing fiction,” Egan said.
The representation has to be based on research and done in good faith. To capture experiences unlike her own, Egan interviews people who are like her characters. Egan is also a journalist, but she has adopted the interview style of an oral historian — starting broad and letting the story tell itself.
THE READING
Misiaszek first read “The Keep” in a previous class on Gothic literature, which Battigelli also taught. That book was enough to draw her into the class about Egan’s work.
“I really adored it because it was funny. It was witty and I loved the profanity,” Misiaszek said. “I would recommend that book to people over that semester.”
Marcel Gibbs, a senior triple English major — studying English literature, English language arts and creative writing — also started with “The Keep.” He picked the book up in the summer, when Battigelli shared the reading list with her students.
“I immediately liked it,” Gibbs said. “Love ‘The Keep.’ Top favorite, better than all.”
Egan’s writing features edgy characters, tragedy befalling them, exploration of dark and sensitive themes such as self-harm and suicide. However, Battigelli, Gibbs and Misiaszek all describe Egan’s books as “fun.” The stories feature multiple converging storylines, defy reader expectations and provoke questions.
“They’re not consumable content sometimes, but I think that’s good,” Misiaszek said. “And I think we need writers like that to, dare I say, take people who are afraid of being brave and looking into the dark corners of the world and shining some light.”
TURNING THE PAGE
Universities across the country have begun offering courses dedicated to Egan’s work, but Battigelli’s is the first such course at SUNY Plattsburgh. Battigelli, though, will retire in May 2025.
“I probably won’t be teaching this class, but it certainly has raised questions,” Battigelli said.
When Egan received her Pulitzer at 49 years old, 16 years after she published her first book, she achieved what some early-career writers would consider the “endgame,” Misiaszek said. She noted, however, that Egan still continues writing even more than 10 years later.
“It’s how can we not only be a good writer, but be a good writer for ourselves and in our own way?” Misiaszek said.
Egan’s insights also prompted Gibbs and Misiaszek to ponder the nature of humanity.
“I liked how she answered my question,” Gibbs said. “Even though it changes throughout decades, the human psyche isn’t really stagnant. Even if things are swampy in one area, or for one decade, you can best believe that it’s going to change at some point in time. So it gave me a little hope, especially now, in trying times.”
Misiaszek is looking to work for nonprofit organizations. Egan’s work and interview help Misiaszek understand the human psyche, which she said goes well with her desire to help others.
“In nonprofit, I want to help people, and in order to do that, I’m going to have to run towards the danger,” Misiaszek said. “Not everyone’s brave enough to do that. Some writers will conceal it and make it flowery and fluffy, but I don’t think you learn anything from that.”
Gibbs wants to teach high schoolers. He said he would like to give his future students as unforgettable an experience as he had interviewing Egan.
“If we’re reading a certain book and the author is alive, I’ll definitely try and figure something out,” Gibbs said. “That’s going to be a core memory for those students.”
