Firstly, I would like to thank you Jennifer Rosner for her time and effort in this interview. I have been in love with her writing ever since I finished "The Yellow Bird Sings" and I encourage everyone who hasn't yet embarked on the journey of this novel, to get into a sailboat. Now, the interview:
What inspired The Yellow Bird Sings?
Jennifer: Years ago, I was giving a book talk about my memoir, If A Tree Falls, about raising our daughters, both of whom were born deaf. I was discussing our decision to get them hearing technology and to encourage their vocalizations. (In time, they both learned to speak beautifully.) A woman in the audience raised her hand and described her childhood experience: she had to remain completely silent while hiding with her mother in a shoemaker's attic during WWII. I couldn't stop thinking about what it must have been like for a mother to have to keep her child silent, and for a child to have to stay quiet for months on end. I later interviewed this woman, and then many other hidden children of the Holocaust. Though my novel is entirely fictional, the seeds were planted from interviews with many people who lived hidden during the war.
Why did you choose a yellow bird as the symbol of hope?
Shira's bird first came to me when I wanted her to have an imaginary companion in the barn, one who could sing out the music she heard in her head. I wanted the reader to wonder (at least at first) if the bird was real, because it would feel real to a girl like Shira, with her keen imagination. There are some who believe yellow is a color of friendship; it is also the color of the yellow star that Jewish people were made to wear. But additionally: it is the color of stars that appear in the sky, and when we are separated from a loved one, we may both look into the night sky and see the same star, and so be connected. Shira's bird (and her music) connect her to her mother.
Why did you choose the mother-daughter relationship to be one of the central themes?
My decision to write about the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter stems from my desire to always be connected to my daughters. When we first learned of their deafness, I had fears that we wouldn't easily communicate and find closeness. (This didn't turn out to be true, but at the time I worried.) At some point I learned of deaf ancestors in my family tree who tied strings from their wrists to their babies, so that, when their babies cried in the night, they would wake to care for them. In The Yellow Bird Sings, music (made with strings from Roza's cello and Shira's violin) keeps them connected.
What was the most difficult part of writing “The Yellow Bird Sings.”?
Researching the Holocaust was painful and difficult, and writing about the separation of a mother and child, and about the brutalities of war perpetrated on women (even by people who are also aiding them) was very challenging.
That said, it was exciting to consult with a wide array of people (historians, nuns, mushroom foragers, forest trackers). I loved learning all I could about violin prodigies, and discovering how to really listen for the stories behind different musical masterpieces. Writing, for me, is a kind of musical exercise as well; I love to find rhythm and poetry in written language. So even when the content was difficult, the sentence-by-sentence writing was pleasing.
How long did it take to write "The Yellow Bird Sings"?
The Yellow Bird Sings took me many years to research and write—ten years, all told, from getting the kernel of the idea to publication. For a very long time, I had no idea of the plot of the story; I just had a mother and a musical child in a barn, rustling beneath hay, looking through shards in the barn wall. I think, when I decided that they'd be separated, the stories of Shira in the convent and Roza in the woods, finally took hold.
What would you say makes a book inherently good? What are the main characteristics?
I value books that leave me changed in how I think and feel, and that thrill me on the sentence level.
When did you decide you want to be a writer?
I came to writing quite late in life! I was a philosophy professor before becoming a writer; I had never considered a creative writing life until our daughters were born and I had a lot I wanted to express. I began by journaling, and I found myself very nourished by the process of writing down my thoughts and feelings. From that personal writing, I moved into fiction, and I love it!
What is some advice you have for young writers?
My advice for young writers is to keep writing, consistently, no matter what! It can be a tough business, but persistence is the key. And try to keep the focus on the creative process, not the "product." That's the nourishing part, at least for me.
What’s your remedy for writer’s block?
My own remedies for writer's block are: taking walks; showering; jumping on my mini trampoline; and listening to craft lectures online. I find these to be very helpful when I'm feeling stuck.
What is your favorite book? Why?
It's really hard to name a favorite book, but one that's been very important to me is All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It is gorgeous, sentence by sentence; it is emotionally moving; it teaches me about the world. I return to it, over and over.
Once again, I would like to deeply thank Jennifer Rosner for the opportunity to interview her about her captivating, entrancing novel "The Yellow Bird Sings" and I encourage everyone to check it out; as well as her new novel coming out in March: Once We Were Home.
I gather that Shira and Roza's storyline isn't over just yet...
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