If there was a writer I could choose to be my mentor, I could do worse than choosing Etgar Keret. I got to hear this charming Israeli writer read when he visited Chicago. His stories are short, funny, surreal and powerful. They are tiny explosions. I wish he wrote novels, but I'm grateful for these stories. If you're out there, Etgar, please find me. We need to talk.
WE VIDEO BECAUSE WE CAN
a video by dwight okita
This video is my attempt to use the Windows MovieMaker software to create an intricate soundtrack of music, images, and text.
April 2007: DWIGHT IN SMALL DOSES (a blog)
This month, I've chosen to shine a spotlight on fiction I have loved and been inspired by as a writer struggling to create fiction myself.
British writer Mark Haddon's first novel is lovely. I found it deeply satisfying on many levels. On the level of language -- the story is narrated by an autistic boy with an odd child-man kind of poetry. Story-wise, the novel has a couple powerful twists that hit me like lightning bolts. And when I finally closed the book, I was left with a feeling that I had witnessed a small miracle...a child becoming a man against great odds.
