Nellie Hermann Revealed
About Nellie Hermann
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What is your birthdate?:10/4
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Favorite job:The one I have now - writing teacher for medical students at Columbia med school
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High school and/or college:Milton Academy, Brown University
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Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:David Byrne
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Favorite movie:Tough one. Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man" is up there.
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Favorite television show:Six Feet Under. I also love Felicity.
Revealing Questions
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. avoid mottos and maxims...
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. Australia, cabin in the woods
- Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
- A. Don't know about identifying, but I admire Abe Lincoln
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. My mom. But David Byrne and Barack Obama are pretty cool too
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. Dancing
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. Curly hair
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. Gandalf
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. Gargamel
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Knitting
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. surgeon (in a world where surgeons don't work or train like they do now). Or farmer.
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Honesty, humor, spontaneity
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Bernard Malamud Marilynne Robinson Andre Dubus (the father) Lawrence Weschler Aleksandar Hemon John Williams many more
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. John Williams, Stoner Bernard Malamud, The Fixer Marilynne Robinson, Home Kenzaburo Oe, A Personal Matter Jean Stafford, The Mountain Lion too hard to choose just five!
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. Watership Down was great to re-read, as was East of Eden
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Keep Doing It. There are so many reasons to write that are beyond publication. Look to those and you'll find more stories.
- Q. How did you come to write Cure for Grief?
- A. I was writing around this book for years. I knew I would someday write some version of it but I didn't know what form it would take. Then in graduate school a teacher diagnosed my stories as all having "damaged males on the side," and I was shocked into beginning the novel in earnest.
