Historical Fiction Is More Important Than Ever - 10 Writers Weigh in - Literary Hub

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HITORICAL FICTION I MOR IMPORTANT
THAN VR: 10 WRITR WIGH IN
OMTIM, TH T WAY TO LARN TH MITAK OF TH PAT I TO FL THM
April 24, 2017  Crtal King (http://lithu.com/author/crtal-king/)
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
Famou eait and diarit Anaï Nin ued to a, “We write to tate life twice, in the
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ttps%3A%2F%2Flithub.com%2Fhistorical- ction-is-more-important-than-ever-10-writers-weigh-in%2F) 
moment and in retropect.” Nowhere i that more true than in hitorical
FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF  ction, which
allow reader to tep inide the mind of thoe who have haped the world we live in,
and to imagine the all-too human ide of hitor.
OOK MARK 
arlier thi ear, when the New York Time aicall reported that the new preident
doen’t read ook, it reenergized the converation aout reading and empath, leading
man to wonder if contemporar politic would e a little more humane if more top
politician read ook.
(http://lithu.com/hitorical- ction-i-more-important-than-ever-10-writer
weigh-in/featrand/)
M forthcoming novel, Feat of orrow (http://crtalking.com/featoforrow/
i et in rt-centur Rome, during the time of dictator Augutu and Tieri
Caear. ough the political parallel etween now and then are man, what reall tand
out to me i the human connection to food and mone, an idea I tr to explore through
the character Apiciu, a gourmand who aunt hi wealth through food. He throw lavi
partie and earche the world for choice ingredient. He dine well, ut he doe o
ecaue he can afford to. He can afford to ring now out of the mountain to keep hi
food cold. He can afford to u preciou her and pice for hi food. And he ha
hundred of lave to farm hi food, and kitchen full of worker to prepare the food for
him and hi guet. He i utterl dependent on that tructure for hi utenance and hi
pleaure and take it for granted.
Toda, I read aout new meaure that might reult in thouand of deportation and
fractured familie. Or a cotl wall etween the U and Mexico. Le talked aout i the
impact uch order would have on the cot of food if anction are put in place on
commoditie like avocado and ugar, or if the workforce in farm and factorie i
reduced, or replaced with more expenive laorer. In turn, it will ecome harder for our
nation’ poor to afford health food for their familie. Good, nutritiou food will ecom
even more of a luxur enjoed  the wealth.
A familiarit with hitor help me undertand and make thee connection.
(https://lithub.com)
Learning aout the pat through the torie of other ha opened m ee to the
conequence of action that I do not want to ee repeated in the world in which I live. I
ha haped m ailit to empathize with culture and people that are foreign to m
OOK MARK 
own experience. Reading hitorical ction ha colored m deciion and changed m
action—I trul elieve it ha made me a etter peron.
I aked nine other author what the thought aout the importance of hitorical ction
and wh reading hitorical ook i more crucial now than ever efore.
(http://lithu.com/hitorical- ction-i-more-important-than-ever-10-writer-weigh-
in/jenna-lum-thoewhoaveu/)
Jenna lum, oe Who ave U (Harcourt, 2004)
Hitorical ction re ect the mitake and triumph of thoe who have come efore u,

howing how event affected people  peronalizing them, making them reonant and
emotional, in individual torie. Often, it’ a Greek choru of warning—if onl we’re
paing attention.
In m rt novel oe Who ave U, I drew upon ten ear’ worth of reearch and the

interview I did with Holocaut urvivor for the teven pielerg urvivor of the ho
Viual Hitor Foundation to portra and explore wh and how “good” German—
ordinar people, like ou and me—allowed the Holocaut to happen; in m novella “
Luck One,” for the antholog Grand Central, I ued an actual urvivor’ tor to how
the long-lating emotional effect of uch an evil regime.
FATUR  NW  W R I T I N G L I Fe parallel etween pre-Naz
 
German and Trump’ America are triking and terrifing, and we mut not ignore them
ONGFORM (HTTP://LITHU.COM/CATGORY/LONGFORM/) DAILY FICTION

We mut act ever da to enure the don’t happen again. e Reitance in oe Who

OOK MARK
ave U will, I hope, inpire the reitance in our countr toda.

in/anjali-mitter-duva-faint-promie-of-rain/)
Anjali Mitter Duva, Faint Promie of Rain (he Write Pre, 2014)
I have een running a ook clu for children for four ear now, eginning with a gaggl
of third grader who are all now in eventh grade. Among the man ook we’ve read
have een everal hitorical novel: One Craz ummer (et in 1968 Oakland), peranza
Riing (Mexico and California during the Great Depreion), Moon Over Manifet (193
Kana), Chain (Revolutionar War) among other. An unintended ene t of having
read o much hitorical ction with thee kid i that thi repoitor of torie ha een
the ai for ome ver inightful dicuion aout current event. ee 13-ear-old
have viewed the truggle, challenge, loe, victorie of a wide variet of character in
man etting, and go ack to thee, without m prompting, to help them undertand th
world the currentl live in: the lack Live Matter movement, the role of immigrant
laor in America, and much more.
M own hitorical novel, Faint Promie of Rain, i et in the world of Hindu temple
dancer in the 16th centur, jut at the tart of Mulim rule in what wa to ecome Indi
Although I wouldn’t a that thi i what the ook i “aout,” it doe explore an earl
manifetation of the doule tandard with which women in ome egment of Indian
OOK MARK 
ociet are treated—on the one hand revered a Mother and giver of life while on the
other alo victim of aue with few right. e father gure in the tor i, in eence, a
perpetrator of a tradition that encompae oth thee facet, et he i a ver human
character who can even elicit pit if not mpath in the reader. To feel an emotional
connection to him i not to condone hi ehavior or choice, ut to interpret them with
new laer of recognition and undertanding.
in/jenni-walh-onnie-mall/)
Jenni L. Walh, ecoming onnie (Ma 9, 2017, Tor)
Hitorical ction, which often orrow actual moment in time related to hifting
economic and ocietal iue, ha an uncann wa of reonating with relevance even a
hundred, or hundred, of ear later. ecoming onnie i et during the Roaring Twentie
ear that ma’ve een roaring for the upper echelon, ut not for thoe at the ottom.
1920 are alo a period when women took tride forward, ale to vote for the rt time
and, like m main character, eager to make a name for themelve. One of the eautie o
hitorical ction i how the genre can act a a arometer of how far we’ve come a a
ociet. ut hitorical ction alo hine light on how much further we have to go.
OOK MARK 
in/tephanie-dra-america rtdaughter/)
tephanie Dra, America’ Firt Daughter (with co-author Laura Kamoie, Harper
Collin, 2016)
I write novel et in Augutan Rome and Revolutionar America. Or, a I like to a, I
write ook aout the rie and fall of repulic. oth of which eem tartlingl relevant
toda. Hitor can e ueful to tud in term of oth perpective on our current politica
challenge, and olution to them a well—certainl, the Founding Father retreated,
again and again to dut hitor ook aout the ancient to nd example of
arrangement other than monarch that could help men govern themelve.
ut hitorical ction novel are not onl a etter read, ut might e more helpful in
making ene of the current world. Hitorical novel don’t jut tell u what happened;
the make u feel. e create empath for what other people went through in different
time, in a wa that i divorced from our own political aggage. e life of Cleopatra’
daughter—the heroine of m Nile erie—i a tark reminder of how fortune can turn
even when the world i in chao, o long a ou have purpoe and pereverance. And of
coure, reading aout the life of Pat Jefferon Randolph, the heroine of America’ Firt
Daughter, help u to undertand that we all have a part to pla in a democrac.
FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF  at eve
mall act can change the world.
OOK MARK 
in/margaret-george-confeion-of-oung-nero/)
Margaret George, e Confeion of Young Nero (erkle, 2017)
In order to undertand our own ituation, we need to ee our time in context, otherwie
we aume that people alwa acted and thought a we do. Hitorical novel can tranpo
u to another era, a, Jane Auten’, when a woman’ whole economic urvival depended
on who he married, and even if he married. We can etter ee what progre ha een
made in women’ equalit when we ee where we’re coming from. Fiction can make thi
much more peronal and real than traight hitor. You can appl thi to an uject—
war, medicine, laver, politic, ex—and there’ a hitorical novel to how ou how it
ued to e, making our aement of what’ happening now more knowledgeale.
Hitorical ction alo deliver fact in a manner that people nd eaier to grap than in a

hitor ook, o it can reach a igger audience and have a greater impact. e muical
Hamilton reached more people than the iograph  Ron Chernow. i fueled a
popular movement—dare I a mania?—and he wa kept on the $10 ill ecaue of it.
OOK MARK 
in/tim-weed-willpoole/)
Tim Weed, Will Poole’ Iland (namelo, 2014)
A a reader of hitorical ction, I’m looking for omething igger than a imple
recontruction of hitor. I’m looking to experience a new world, to enter a new and de-
familiarized verion of the pat. I’m looking for an immerive tor that ring interetin
character to life while imultaneoul capturing omething eential, not onl aout the
hitorical etting, ut alo aout the deeper truth of human exitence. e fact i that a
contemporar hitorical novel mut to ome extent re ect contemporar value and
preoccupation, and etting a ook in the ditant pat can give u a uniquel clear-eed
perpective on the preent.
It’ m hope that reader of Will Poole’ Iland will come to undertand a little more aou
the true circumtance of America’ 17th-centur origin, and how thoe circumtance
differ from our widel accepted foundational mtholog. Acknowledging the tragic pat
an eential rt tep in coming to term with it. elf-awarene ma e painful, ut in
the nal anali it will make u tronger.

OOK MARK 
(http://lithu.com/hitorical- ction-i-more-important-than-ever-10-writer-
weigh-in/caroline-wood-fraulein-m/)
Caroline Wood, Fräulein M. (Tru ook, 2017)
I often turn to .L. Doctorow when examining wh hitorical ction matter. “ e
hitorian will tell ou what happened,” he wrote. “ e novelit will tell ou what it felt
like.” It’ one thing to read that on Jul 31, 1932, the Nazi ecame the larget part in
the German Reichtag. It’ another to, via ction, hare a cafe tale with a group of
erlin lieral jut efore the reult of the election are announced, and watch them toa
what the aume will e the Nazi’ lo. A prickle of uneae lift the hair on the
protagonit’ neck. he feel, perhap, the wa man of u did on Novemer 8, 2016.
Hitorical ction ha the power to make connection etween the pat and preent in
wa that fact and date ometime ocure. It ring people out of hitor and et the
eide ou at the tale—whipering, laughing, fearful. And it can lead it reader in
puruit of the hitorical record. Crtal King’ Feat of orrow ent me to Apiciu’ ancie
cookook, and on to Mar eard’ PQR: A Hitor of Ancient Rome. I hope m
ook lead reader to Chritopher Iherwood, rika Mann, Trudi Kanter. We mut
inform our current action with hitor’ guidance. It i impoile to cr “fake new”
aout hitor.
OOK MARK 
in/heather-we-in-love-with-rodin/)
Heather We, Rodin’ Lover (Plume, 2015)
Hitor in’t jut a erie of gone era, littered with a mélange of facinating and
horri c event and people. It’ a detailed map of who we are and what we tand for oth
a an individual, and a a ociet. Hitor i alo a window into our future. A creature
hait, we live our live in a erie of pattern and movement. tuding thee pattern ca
e ueful in predicting what come next, how we hould prepare ourelve, or even what
we hould peak out againt in a meaningful wa. In order to do thee “tudie” or reach
thi higher level of undertanding, we need a vehicle eond textook and
documentarie and the ruin of old monument. We need a wa to relate to thoe of the
pat, in the mot human wa poile. i i done through torie. It’ how we make
ene of our live and emotion. Hitorical ction erve a that vehicle for tor. It’ lle
with character that touch our heart a well a challenge u to look deepl at our
pattern—to ee how we’ve evolved—or haven’t. o ou ee, hitorical ction i alwa
relevant. It draw parallel from the pat to our preent, and teache u to e empathetic
toward other. Finall, it demontrate that though human nature doen’t change, how w
govern ourelve and treat other can.

OOK MARK 
(http://lithu.com/hitorical- ction-i-more-important-than-ever-10-writer-
weigh-in/marjan-kamali-together-tea/)
Marjan Kamali, Together Tea (cco, 2013)
“ ere i nothing new in the world except the hitor ou do not know.” i quote from
Harr . Truman i the epigraph of m econd novel. For me it capture wh hitorical
ction i more important now than ever. o much of geopolitic that tun, hock,
infuriate and confue u can e etter undertood  walking in the hoe of character
who’ve experienced imilar event in the pat. Fiction give u that intene, viceral
experience where we can trul identif with people from another time and countr.
e live of the character of m rt novel, Together Tea, are rehaped and upended 
the 1979 Iranian revolution. Reader tell me that  experiencing the jo and loe of
thee Iranian immigrant and their adjutment to life in America, the gain a etter
undertanding of what i happening not jut in their own world at large ut in their
peronal live and in their heart. For m econd novel, I reearched the political diviion
in 1953 Iran right efore the coup. I wa urpried how long-ago event in a farawa lan
are o imilar to diviion in contemporar America. ere i the ame ene of one ide
eing completel convinced the are right and dimiing and demonizing the other id
ere i the ame leeding of politic into peronal live, of familie ecoming oeed
and divided  their political view, of irreparale cham creating long-lating damage.
Now more than ever we need hitorical ction to not jut increae our empath for tho
who lived in tring time efore u ut to recognize jut how much the pat feed our
preent and how political theme and regime have an eternal recurrence.
OOK MARK 
Related
Trump in a Toga? On the Leon (or What Can Hitorical Fiction Kanihk aroor on Writing Outide

Lack erof ) in Hitorical Fiction Accomplih at Hitor Doe Not? of Wetern Tradition
(http://lithu.com/trump-in-a-toga- (http://lithu.com/what-can- (http://lithu.com/kanihk-tharoor-
on-the-leon-or-lack-therof-in- hitorical- ction-accomplih-that- on-writing-outide-of-wetern-
hitorical- ction/) hitor-doe-not/) tradition/)
March 7, 2017 Novemer 10, 2016 March 16, 2017
In "Criticim" In "Feature" In "Feature"
 Anjali Mitter Duva (http://lithu.com/tag/anjali-mitter-duva/)
Caroline Wood (http://lithu.com/tag/caroline-wood/) Donald Trump (http://lithu.com/tag/donald-trump/)
empire (http://lithu.com/tag/empire/) facim (http://lithu.com/tag/facim/)
Heather We (http://lithu.com/tag/heather-we/) hitorical fiction (http://lithu.com/tag/hitorical-fiction/)
Jenna lum (http://lithu.com/tag/jenna-lum/) Jenni Walh (http://lithu.com/tag/jenni-walh/)
Margaret George (http://lithu.com/tag/margaret-george/)
Marjan Kamali (http://lithu.com/tag/marjan-kamali/) Nazi (http://lithu.com/tag/nazi/)
politic (http://lithu.com/tag/politic/) repulic (http://lithu.com/tag/repulic/)
Rome (http://lithu.com/tag/rome/) tephanie Dra (http://lithu.com/tag/tephanie-dra/)
the pat (http://lithu.com/tag/the-pat/) Tim Weed (http://lithu.com/tag/tim-weed/)
hp?u=https%3A%2F%2Flithub.com%2Fhistorical- ction-is-more-important-than-ever-10-writers-weigh-
More%20Important%20Than%20Ever%3A%2010%20Writers%20Weigh%20In)
is%20More%20Important%20Than%20Ever%3A%2010%20Writers%20Weigh%20In&url=https%3A%2F%2Flithub.com%2Fhistorica
writers-weigh-in%2F)
ttps%3A%2F%2Flithub.com%2Fhistorical- ction-is-more-important-than-ever-10-writers-weigh-in%2F)  More
Crtal King (http://lithu.com/author/crtal-king/)
Crtal King i a novelit, editor, profeor, ocial media profeional, and critical and
creative thinker. Feat of orrow i her rt novel.
(https://li
thub.com
/author/c OOK MARK 
rystal-
king/)
 A UNIQU KIND OF HURT:
JAM ALDWIN' TH FIR NXT TIM
(HTTP://LITHU.COM/A-UNIQU-KIND-OF-
10 GRAT CONTMPORARY NOVL AOUT
TNAGR (FOR ADULT)
(HTTP://LITHU.COM/10-GRAT-
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HURT-ON-JAM-ALDWIN-TH-FIR-NXT- CONTMPORARY-NOVL-AOUT-
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Ann Bridges • 10 months ago

The issue is whether history can be made relevant to today's readers. As I prepared for the launch
my historical novel, Kit's Mine, I reflected on how many current debates reflect the same issues of
1870 post Gold Rush California. Human trafficking, unfair immigration and naturalization policie
the pursuit of home ownership among onerous property laws, corrupt politicians, gaming the cou
system...I could go on and on. Yet when it comes to capturing the attention of especially the
younger generation, it seems that fantasy and futuristic scenarios are all they desire. Too bad,
because it's much harder to bridge the understanding and empathy gap from the plot/theme whe
a fictional character can be shrugged off as unrealistic, rather than one's own ancestor.
6△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Margaret Skea • 9 months ago

I had to think incredibly hard about November 8th 2016 to try and work out what on earth could
have happened that would equate to Nazi Germany. When the penny eventually dropped that it
must be a reference to the US election - am I right? I was somewhat shocked. I personally find it
hard to understand how Trump got elected and I certainly wouldn't have voted for him, and fear
what he might try to do, but I don't think he is comparable to the evils of Hitler.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
michael • 10 months ago

"She feels, perhaps, the way many of us did on November 8, 2016." Wow. For a historian of
Germany in the 20th century to suggest this show a total lack of perspective.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Daniel Sheesley > michael • 10 months ago

Your "perspective."
michael > Daniel Sheesley • 10 months ago

Ah, our own little narratives!
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Hitorical ction re ect the mitake and triumph of thoe who have come efore u,

In m rt novel oe Who ave U, I drew upon ten ear’ worth of reearch and the

We mut act ever da to enure the don’t happen again. e Reitance in oe Who

Hitorical ction alo deliver fact in a manner that people nd eaier to grap than in a

FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF 

FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF 

FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF 

FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF 

Trump in a Toga? On the Leon (or What Can Hitorical Fiction Kanihk aroor on Writing Outide

ttps%3A%2F%2Flithub.com%2Fhistorical- ction-is-more-important-than-ever-10-writers-weigh-in%2F)  More

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Ann Bridges • 10 months ago

Margaret Skea • 9 months ago

michael • 10 months ago

Daniel Sheesley > michael • 10 months ago

michael > Daniel Sheesley • 10 months ago

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FATUR  NW  WRITING LIF 

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