Interview with published author and FSU professor

By Sarah Daponde Asst. Arts & Features Editor Author and Professor Jennifer De Leon held a discussion about her latest book, “White Space,” on Oct. 6 in the Heineman Ecumenical Center. Lisa Eck, English Department chair, introduced De Leon and Adam Stumacher, an author, visiting lecturer at Framingham State, and De Leon’s husband, who conducted the discussion in an interview fashion. “There’s so many ways for words to go to work in the world and the two authors we have here today write in multiple forms to many audiences,” added Eck. De Leon is the author of several published works, including young adult novels “Borderless” and “Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From,” as well as her new book of essays, “White Space,” Eck said. De Leon is also a tenured professor of creative writing at Framingham State and is currently on sabbatical. “It feels kind of surreal because it’s been several months since I’ve been on campus,” said De Leon. De Leon began the discussion by reading an excerpt from “White Space” called “A Pink Dress,” a piece about her mother buying her a dress for college graduation. “My college graduation dress was as important to [my mother] as a wedding gown,” De Leon read. She said her mother, an immigrant from Guatemala, inspired her to write. “All of her stories really lit a match in me that made me want to write and write and write.” Stumacher said this interview between him and De Leon would not be a typical author discussion because they were married. “The mother in ‘The Pink Dress’ is at home right now watching our sons,” he added. Stumacher said he had the privilege of reading many of De Leon’s essays in their earliest forms. He asked De Leon to describe the steps that went into putting together “White Space.” “I did not know I was writing a book,” said De Leon. She wrote one essay at a time over the course of 10 years, which she would publish in journals and magazines, De Leon said. De Leon said she “came from a family of storytellers,” but publishing a book was something she knew nothing about. She went to a writing conference, The Association of Writers and Writing Programs. An editor from Salamander Press asked to read her collection and this was when she began to think she had a collection, De Leon said. She needed a narrative arc between her essays to make it a real collection, she said. “The me at the beginning of the book is going to be different from the me at the end of the book.” She structured “White Space” into three parts - before she moved to Guatemala at the age of 28, while she lived in Guatemala, and after she returned back to the U.S. after living in Guatemala, she said. “I wanted to fill the well that I could draw from in all my writing,” said De Leon. “I wasn’t the same Jen when I came home.” She said she worked on an adult novel for seven years that she was unable to publish. At the time, she said she felt like this was the worst thing that could happen. “I was trying really hard to sound like what I thought an author sounded like. And that meant dead old white guys,” De Leon said. She said she was never assigned a book to read in school that was written by someone like herself - a Latina woman. “It’s really important to know you can write and you can share your stories and you don’t have to sound like anyone but yourself.” De Leon writes both nonfiction and fiction, and Stumacher asked her how she decides which genre to write in for a specific project. De Leon said the word “essay” comes from the French word for “to try” and that an essay is what someone uses when they are trying to figure out the answers, which is how she felt when writing “White Space.” “I can’t imagine these as essays,” she added. De Leon said sometimes there is more “emotional truth” in writing fiction than in nonfiction. “It is complex, right? Sometimes when you are writing fiction, you give yourself permission to go there, to go to a dark place that you couldn’t necessarily do when it’s not fiction,” said Stumacher. Stumacher said De Leon is always working on more than one writing project. “She is the queen of productive procrastination, … so if she doesn’t want to work on this novel, she’ll work on some essays and if she doesn’t want to work on some essays, she’ll work on something else,” he said. De Leon said she is working on three young adult fiction novels at the moment, including two that take place in Guatemala. She said she thinks she will never stop writing about Guatemala. When it comes to writing about her own life experiences in her essays, she likes to write about the good parts and the bad parts. She said you cannot only write in one “shade” or emotion. “That’s what makes stained glass beautiful - you need the light and the dark,” De Leon added.