16 Jul / A Carnivore’s Inquiry by Sabina Murray + Author Interview [in AsianWeek]
Sabina Murray’s PEN/Faulkner Follow-Up: ‘A Carnivore’s Inquiry’
With last year’s prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for her stunning short story collection, The Caprices, in hand, Sabina Murray is looking at her career through new eyes: “Everything just feels different,” she said. “Before, I felt like what I was writing wouldn’t necessarily get read. Now, it’s not that everything I write will be embraced, but I feel like there will be readers out there for my stuff, and that’s a very different place for me from which to write.”
That different place is literally so, with a move to a new address in Amherst precipitated by a professorial gig that began last September at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “I’m meeting people who are just on the brink of their careers, and that’s very exciting,” Murray says.
While Caprices touches on the family history of her Filipina mother’s side – and the brutal effects of the Pacific Campaign of World War II – her latest book, A Carnivore’s Inquiry, deals with a different kind of violence: the cover’s depiction of Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” should be a clue. Murray is already garnering “must-read” reviews for what she describes as a novel that looks at cannibalism, art, literature, and exploration. With a most unreliable – but irresistible – narrator, Carnivore is a mind-boggling adventure of the unexpected that will leave you scratching your head while wanting more.
AsianWeek: Where did you get the inspiration for Carnivore?
Murray: Ultimately, Carnivore is a scary story and I have a soft spot for scary stories. I wanted to write about a woman who, on the surface, is completely innocuous and seems to be the ready victim of a lot of people, but isn’t at all like that.
AW: Had you finished writing Carnivore before you won the PEN/Faulkner? Was it tough to follow up after winning the award?
SM: I have drafts of Carnivore that date back about 10 years, even before I started on The Caprices. But those drafts aren’t the same book we have now, other than the fact that there’s a woman named Katherine in them. I got older and more demanding of what Katherine did and why; Katherine got older and more interesting.
I didn’t think of the PEN/Faulkner as a tough follow-up. I think it helped me get a good reading for a book that on the surface could be read as a road trip, or some kind of murder mystery. But because I have some literary chops, people realize there’s more going on – with the references to art and history and exploration – and understand the darker statements of the book. I owe that read somewhat to the PEN/Faulkner.
AW: I understand you wrote the screenplay for an upcoming film, The Beautiful Country, which stars Nick Nolte, Damien Nguyen, and Bai Ling. What’s the latest?
SM: I’ve been nominated for an award for best screenplay by the Norwegian Film Institute, which is great. I’m still waiting for a solid American release date. But I’ve waited nine years already, so what’s another six months? …[click here for more]
Author interview: “Sabina Murray’s PEN/Faulkner Follow-Up: ‘A Carnivore’s Inquiry,’” AsianWeek, July 16, 2004
Tidbit: The inventive Sabina Murray, together with the wonderful Jessica Hagedorn and Helen Zia, was a guest for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program‘s “Contemporary Asian American Writers” public program on September 29, 2004.
Readers: Adult
Published: 2004