An Interview With Novelist Jon Papernick

June 12, 2008

Boston-based Novelist Jon Papernick recently took some time to answer a few questions via email for the New Vilna Review. He is the author of The Ascent of Eli Israel and the novel Who by Fire, Who by Blood. and recently completed his second collection of short stories. He also working on adapting Who by Fire into a graphic novel with artist Sandy Jimenez. His website may be viewed at www.jonpapernick.com

NVR: Jewish themes are obviously dominant in your work, can you tell us a little about your own Jewish experience growing up and how that influenced you as a writer?

Interestingly, my Jewish experience growing up was minimal and slightly negative.  I really wasn't connected to the Jewish community in any way except for the fact that many of my friends were Jewish. However, I flunked out of Hebrew school in first grade, and hated Sunday school, [which, strangely was on Saturday]. I did, however have a bar mitzvah and there is unfortunately videotape floating around somewhere. I felt some sort of shame at being Jewish and did not want to be persecuted for something I did not believe in.  Interestingly, I've never really faced anti-Semitism in any major way, but my antennae have always been up and are very sensitive.  t wasn't until I went to Israel when I was 22, almost by chance, that I suddenly found a sense of pride in myself as a Jew. I also found that I was part of a tradition and have been working my way slowly through that with my writing.  Strangely, in many ways my religious education has come through the writing of my stories. I sit in debate with myself in front of my computer and work out solutions to my puzzling questions.

NVR: Do you feel that you background in journalism informs your approach to fiction? And if so, how?

I don't think that my background in journalism informs my approach to fiction at all. In fact, even when I was working as a journalist, I always saw myself as a fiction writer, and that is the way that I see the world.  In some ways, I look at the world as I would retell it. I thought that journalism would be a nice way to feed into my fiction writing, but it really exhausted my desire to write altogether.

NVR: In your fiction there are many different kinds of Jews and Jewish worlds interacting, and at times, colliding. Is this kind of connectivity and interactivity something that consciously informs your writing?

I'm not sure I fully understand this question, but I certainly believe as a fiction writer and as a thinker that collisions of opposing forces are fascinating, and often lead to startling revelations.

NVR: In addition to being a working writer, you have also taught creative writing. Do you enjoy the teaching process? Do you find that there is any connection between the work you do on the page and that which you do in the classroom?

I very much enjoy teaching creative writing. I enjoy the teaching process and for the most part I enjoy my students. I take pride in what I do in the same way that I take pride in my writing. I find the teaching allows me to keep the writing dialogue going on a daily basis when I'm not writing.  I access the same parts of my brain when teaching writing that I do when I'm writing, so I find that it helps keep me sharp. Of course, I'd rather not have 18 students in each class, because that can be very demanding. Ideally one day I’d like to be able to take on a smaller teaching load and still be able to support my writing addiction.

NVR: What are you working on at the moment?

I recently sent out my second collection of short stories to publishers, and am still waiting for a response. In the meantime, I'm working on my second novel which I don't want to talk about in any detail right now. All I will say is that it should be a lot more fun and fast paced than Who by Fire, Who by Blood, which was amazingly difficult for me to write. The darkness that I felt when I was writing that novel seems to have lifted, and I'm enjoying the process of creating this world. I have no idea when it will be finished, but for now I'm not that concerned about it.