Interview with Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, March 30, 1998

Partial Transcript: --seven years I guess, six or seven.

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall briefly talks of her time spent teaching at the University of Kentucky. Subsequently, Taylor-Hall explains how she taught creative writing and what the subject means to her personally.

Keywords: "Understanding life"; Action; Creativity; Dramatic action; Exercises; Interests; Jim Baker Hall; Part time; Poems; Senses; University of Kentucky; Unnatural; Writers

Subjects: American authors; Creative writing; Education, Higher; Experience; Fiction; Higher education; Marriage; Poetry; Professor; Reading; Stories; Teachers; Teaching; Voice; Work

Partial Transcript: Your husband, James Baker Hall, probably one of the most articulate people I've interviewed in terms of his, his talking about where he believes creativity comes from.

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall assesses a quote from her husband, Jim Baker Hall regarding the origins of creativity.

Keywords: Creativity; Difficulty; Husbands; Jim Baker Hall; Personal experiences; Predisposition; Quotes; Stories; Trauma

Subjects: American authors; Creative ability; Experience; Genetics; Imagination; Joy; Life; Pain; Personality; Simile; Storytelling; Truth; Voice; Writing

Partial Transcript: Do you feel driven to write?

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall outlines her motivations and feelings surrounding writing. Taylor-Hall's typical writing schedule is also considered.

Keywords: Critics; Gender expectations; Husbands; Quiet; Schedules; Writers

Subjects: American authors; Atmosphere; Authors.; Brother; Happiness; Life; Loyalty; Marriage; Peace; Work; Writing

Partial Transcript: Um, a couple of weeks ago when I interviewed Jane Gentry, um, she was talking about the, the group.

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall discusses the writer's/artist's group that she is involved in. This is described in relation to the interviewee's methods of editing her own work (for instance, asking for feedback from the group).

Keywords: Collaboration; Friends; Happy; Husbands; Jane Gentry; Stories; Support; Writer's groups; Writers; Writers groups

Subjects: American authors; Artists; Authors.; Criticism; Editing; Farm; Life; Voice; Work; Writing

Partial Transcript: Um, one of the themes of your short fiction especially is manifested in your stories...

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall explains the main themes and characteristics present in her work, including using a female protagonist. Additionally, the interviewer and Taylor-Hall discover that they each have a mutual connection to the island of Puerto Rico.

Keywords: Acceptance; Adversity; Connections; Female artists; Gender roles; Human; Protagonists; Puerto Rico; Self-understanding; Stories; Trauma; Writers

Subjects: American authors; Authors.; Life; Mortality; Themes; Travel; Women; Writing

Partial Transcript: "Banana Boat," your story included in the Best American Short Stories of 1988, uh, particularly impressed me that way.

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall talks of one her most critically acclaimed short stories, called "Banana Boat." The impact of this story on her writing career is also mentioned. Additionally, Taylor-Hall considers which of her completed works have been published. Then, the interviewee shares the difficulty with determining when a story is truly finished.

Keywords: Awards; Betrayal; Editors; Finishing stories; Happy; Judges; Novellas; Novels; Published; Resumes; Stories:"Banana Boat"; Story; Validation; Writers

Subjects: American authors; Authors.; Autobiographical fiction; Life; Mother; Parents; Publishers and publishing.; Short stories; Time; Work; Writing

Partial Transcript: Will you discuss your, um, your publishing career from the first short stories you published to your novel "Come and Go, Molly Snow" and beyond?

Segment Synopsis: The publishing career of Taylor-Hall is explored, from her first piece of fiction that was published to the most recently published novel.

Keywords: "Banana Boat"; "Come and Go, Molly Snow"; Agents; Breaks; Colorado Quarterly; Kentucky stories; Novellas; Novels; Stories; Writing

Subjects: American authors; Artists; Authors.; Daughters; Life; Mothers; Myth; Publishers and publishing.; Work; Writing

Partial Transcript: Um, I've, I've read "Come and Go, Molly Snow;" twice.

Segment Synopsis: Taylor-Hall interprets the interviewer's connection between a quote in one of Taylor-Hall's novels to her personal view on the nature of creativity. Taylor-Hall is found to have similar viewpoints to her character in this regard.

Keywords: "Come and Go, Molly Snow"; "Individual voice"; Alive; Chorus; Creativity; Humans; Intimate; Quotes; Voices; Writers

Subjects: American authors; Analogy; Authors.; Experience; Life; Time; Truth; Writing