Steph Post: As you already know, I loved your collection Vessel and Solsvart. I'm going to
jump right in, though, with my most burning question: what's up with cover?
It's gorgeous and even if I weren't already a fan of your writing, I would
immediately be drawn to this book. Is it a constellation? A mathematical
equation? And how does In the Region of Bellatrix relate to the
stories within or the collection as a whole?
The cover is an artwork called In
the Region of Bellatrix by Eugene Newmann and is a star map of constellations.
The artwork was part of an exhibition called The Raft Project, which featured a
raft with human figures. In the Region of Bellatrix was a star map meant for
the raft's navigation and was displayed on the wall behind the human figures. The
book's designer, Brendan Connell, and Snuggly Books thought the cover fit the
collection because several of the stories feature stars and other astronomical
phenomena.
The structure with the repetition of
four is common in Norwegian folk tales, but I didn't have any particular folk
tale in mind when I wrote the story. Actually, the nearest direct inspiration
was the music video for "Pyramid Song" by Radiohead. In this animated video a
human figure dives into the ocean and finds an entire world down there, a
suburban neighborhood, and a home where the figure settles in at the end. I
thought of that video when I wrote the scene where Vessel dives down to the
City of Reeds and Solsvart imagines what he might find there.
But the other cities in the story
have no direct inspiration like that. They are imaginings of the essences of
human cities and human life, such as the City of Stone and Tar.
BE: The natural world is very important
to me because without the natural world the human world and humans can't exist.
In our everyday lives we don't notice this much, except for those who work in agriculture,
with livestock or with hunting in some way. But we are nevertheless all
dependent on plants and animals for food, water for drinking, and an
environment that is stable. When the natural environment is ruined or made less
habitable, that will make life difficult also for human beings in urban
environments.
The reason why the natural world is
so central in my writing may also be that I live in a part of the world where
almost all activities are heavily dependent on the weather, because the weather
can turn from comfortable to deadly at any time of the year. Thus, everyone is
aware of the weather and dresses for it. I also have a background as a biologist
and work with space science and appreciate the natural world, the non-human
living beings, and the Earth's great systems both academically and personally.
As I often like to say: The Earth's
true riches are not oil, gas, rare metals or precious gems, but its great
biodiversity and multitude of life forms. There are hydrocarbons and metals on
other planets but so far, Earth is the only planet where we know there is life.
And that makes not caring about or protecting that life and biological wealth so
much worse in my eyes.
Inspiration is a mystery to me as
well. Or rather, a bit of a black box. I call myself the first reader of my
stories because I rarely plan them and tend to just write what comes into my
mind then and there. That means I often have to do a lot of editing of both plot
and language to turn it into a story with a structure that will satisfy other
readers.
But I don't know where the ideas
come from, other than inspirational sources here and there. Often when I re-read
my own stories I wonder "where did that come from?".
Some of my stories are based on
dreams, so that might give them the dreamlike quality. "Apotheosis," the last
story in the collection, is one such example. It was based on a very strange
nightmare I had and I thought it would make an interesting flash story about
life, immortality, and eternal youth, which is so desired in our culture.
BE: I didn't consciously intend to write
stories with such contrasts. But I think the kind of stories I like best myself
are ones that have contrasting emotions and themes and go from high to low to
light to darkness, and where the characters have contrasting sides to their
personalities which encompass all of that. And in life you rarely get light
without darkness, joy without sorrow, etc., and often the two can exist
simultaneously, and a situation or place can be both beautiful and horrible.
I admire classical still lifes a
lot, as well as the Dutch, Flemish, and Italian masters of European painting.
"Summer Dusk, Winter Moon" is partly inspired by such art, as well as the fairy
tales of HC Andersen, which are more romantic and softer than the Norwegian
folk tales. I love the classical chiaroscuro painting technique of sharp
highlights and dark backgrounds, such as in Rembrandt's or Caravaggio's work, so
it's probably no coincidence contrasts play a role in my stories.
Even though artworks from the
Baroque era may seem dated today, I think their subjects and portrayal of human
life show that these artists knew everything about existence that we know in modern
times, with the exception of the technology of course.
So, if you haven't been introduced to Berit Ellingsen before, I hope you have now. Vessel and Solsvart hits shelves on March 6th- be sure to pick up a copy- and also check out Berit's novel Not Dark Yet as well as her many other stories. Happy Reading!
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