John Clanchy: Writer

John Clanchy has written seven volumes of fiction (novels, novellas and short stories). His work has won awards in Europe, the US, New Zealand, and Australia. His novel The Hard Word (2002) was awarded the ACT Book of the Year and Vincenzo's Garden (2005), a collection of prize-winning short stories, have been published to wide critical acclaim. John's forthcoming collection of short stories was mainly written at La Muse. Born in Melbourne John has lived in Canberra since 1975.

What is, for you, the height of misery?
Visits from the Black Dog.

Where would you like to live?
Australia and France.

Your ideal of earthly happiness?
i. equality for all as a universal aspiration
ii. (personally) a dinner table, surrounded by family, with fine food, wine, laughter, story-telling and conversation.

For which fault do you have the greatest amount of indulgence?
Indulgence.

Who are the novelistic heroes whom you prefer?
Those involved in making complex moral decisions where the available options all look bad.

Who is your favorite historical character?
Alexander the Great, Buddha.

Your favorite heroines in real life?
Aung San Su Kyi, Brigid Ballard.

Your favorite painter?
Van Gogh.

Your favorite musician?
Bob Dylan, Roy Bailey, Pavarotti.

The virtue you most prefer in men?
Empathy, humour.

The virtue you most prefer in women?
Empathy, humour, womanliness.

The virtue you prefer?
Compassion.

Your preferred occupation?
Punning.

Whom would you have liked to be?
Anton Chekhov, without the TB.

The principal trait of my character?
The persistent desire to be a better person in the face of manifestly inadequate resources to achieve it.

What I appreciate the most in my friends?
"Tenderness - provided they possess a physical charm which makes their tenderness worth having" (Marcel Proust)

My principle fault?
Pedantry (for example knowing the difference between 'principle faults' and 'principal' ones. Excessive criticality.

What is your favorite occupation?
Punning.

What might my greatest misfortune be?
To lose a child.

The color I prefer?
Blues, royal and cobalt.

The flower I like?
Iris.

The bird I prefer?
Kookaburra.

My favorite prose authors?
Chekhov, Tolstoy, Patrick White, Marquez.

My preferred poets?
Shakespeare, Marvell, Keats, Tennyson.

My favorite hero of fiction?
Voss.

My favorite heroines of fiction?
Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary.

My favorite composers?
Bach, Beethoven, Verdi.

My favorite painters?
Van Gogh, Vermeer, Sisley, Hopper.

My heroes in real life?
Mandela, Rabin.

My favorite historical heroines?
Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth 1.

My favorite names?
Brigid, Anna, David, Ben, Edward, Tessa, Sebastian.

What is it you most dislike?
The 3Ps: pomposity, pretentiousness, and preening self-regard.

Historical figures whom I scorn the most?
The occupants of the Vatican, George Bush.

The military feat that I admire the most?
Gallipoli, the Western Front, the Pacific war - all the great disasters.

The reform that I admire the most?
Emancipation (from slavery, childhood labour).

The gift of nature I would like to possess?
A good singing voice.

How I would like to die?
Reconciled and in my sleep.

The present state of my mind?
Gradual acceptance (of age, limits of possibility).

What is your slogan?
Le temps se passe, la peine s'oublie, l'oeuvre reste.

Ophelia Redpath: Artist, Writer

Ophelia Redpath is a painter and writer. She was born in Cambridge, England, where she still lives. Her career as a painter spans over 20 years with exhibitions in over 100 shows in Britain and overseas. Clive James says she "is the most brilliant artist of her type currently working in Britain.". She is presently at work on her second novel, as well as a very funny collection of memoir styled essays and a new series of paintings.

What is, for you, the height of misery?
When things don't seem to change and efforts appear to be in vain.

Where would you like to live?
In a village near a nature reserve where all my friends happen to be my neighbours.

Your ideal of earthly happiness?
Being alert to the intricacies of everyday life and drinking heavenly soup. (In a village near a nature reserve, where all my friends happen to be my neighbours!)

For which faults do you have the greatest amount of indulgence?
Not facing official-looking envelopes..But I'm hitting this on the head with a sledge-hammer.

Who are the novelistic heroes whom you prefer?
Oliver, Ralph Touchett, Doc in "Cannery Row", Harry in "Bliss".

Who is your favorite historical character?
King John (in "1066 And All That")

Your favorite heroines in real life?
Dian Fossey, Shami Chakrabarti, Alice Millar. All women who value living things, can encompass human complexities without reacting violently, and can perceive and face threats while remaining independently apolitical.

Your favorite painter?
At the moment, and for many years, Paulo Uccello.

Your favorite musician?
Joni Mitchell.

The virtue you most prefer in men?
Contentedness.

The virtue you most prefer in women?
Directness.

The virtue you prefer?
A mixture of the two.

Your preferred occupation?
Reading material about wildlife and ecosystems and thinking about how human beings fit in as another species.

Whom would you have liked to be?
David Attenborough's research assistant (with the brain of a naturalist).

The principal trait of my character?
A propensity to fear the worst, which affects my understanding of reality and other people.

The quality you most like in a man?
The ability to enjoy wholeheartedly.
The quality you most like in a woman?
Compassion.

What I appreciate the most in my friends?
Loyalty, fun, closeness, their individuality and stories.

My principle fault?
Difficulty living with strong emotions.

What is your favorite occupation?
Same as preferred occupation.

My dream of happiness?
Being confident in the knowledge I am able to deal with life's difficulties and still enjoy what it produces.

What might my greatest misfortune be?
Lack of confidence.

What would I like to be?
Myself, with the confidence.

In what country would you like to live?
A hybrid of Britain, France, Spain and Italy:
Britain for village fêtes and disinterest in clothes.
France for stalking the vineyards.
Spain for the mountain lizards.
Italy for watching children playing in piazzas in the evenings.

The color I prefer?
At the moment, the juxtaposition of dark cerise and bottle green.

The flower I like?
Scabious.

The bird I prefer?
Robin.

My favorite prose authors?
Charlotte Brontë, Peter Carey, Arundhati Roy, David Sedaris, John Steinbeck, Salman Rushdie (only Midnight's Children), Jane Austen, Jilly Cooper, Raymond Chandler, Paul Scott, Terry Pratchett.

My preferred poets?
Brian Patten.

My favorite composers?
Byrd, Scarlatti, Bach, Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, Benjamin Britten, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Joni Mitchell.

My favorite painters?
Paulo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Van Eyck, Vermeer, Holbein, Brueghel, Degas, Lautrec, Modigliani, Samuel Palmer, Spencer, Michael Sowa, Joe Hargan.

My heroes in real life?
David Attenborough, Jared Diamond, Robin Dunbar. All people who are devoted to the study of life on earth.

My favorite historical heroines?
Elizabeth I.

My favorite names?
Sally, Margot, Kitty, Adeline, George, Arthur, Fred, Gerrard, Theo.

What is it you most dislike?
Paperwork, solitary confinement, concrete cities, rudeness, plastic, lack of common sense, unkindness.

Historical figures whom I scorn the most?
George Bush, whom I'm looking forward to being historical.

The military feat that I admire the most?
Dambusters! (Which shows I haven't thought about it at all!)

The reform that I admire the most?
I'm waiting for one which takes really tough measures with those of us who consume obscene amounts of everything.

The gift of nature I would like to possess?
The ability to conquer fear and keep learning.

How I would like to die?
To be killed quickly by a lioness and fed slowly to her cubs.

The present state of my mind?
Daunted by, yet hopeful for the future.

What is your slogan?
I don't have one, but if I did it would be "stay interested and learn."

Chestnuts with M. Jalabert

Last night was our annual chestnut-eating, vin nouveau-swilling soiree with our neighbor, M. Jallabert, first name Etienne. He was born in 1918 right here in Labastide Esparbairenque (which means he'll be 90 in June) and he says he never had a desire to leave. (Why would he, after all, this place has it all...views, fresh air, nice people, good food...)

I asked him if he had a period roughly historically that he liked best. He said,"Before." He made a mildly disgusted face while peeling the charred, flakey skin from a hot, fleshy chestnut. He popped it in his mouth, and chewed while we listened. "People had nothing, but we were content." He nailed us with his blue eyes. "I worked hard." He thumped his chest with a shaking hand. (He has Parkinson's but still gets up every morning at 7 to do his garden.)

Mining, factories, farming, carpentry, whatever was available, all the while with his own two hands rebuilding stone by stone an old ruin here, where he still lives with memories of his wife and echoes of his now grown boys.

One of the sons, Renee, known to locals as "Jeff", we call in French Strongman. The boys call him "The hairy Jallabert" for his perfectly round beard blended into his perfectly frizzy head of hair. Jeff always collected animals, including a crow. The only remaining wild pet is a wild boar Jeff found four years ago and keeps in a pen in his father's yard, an excuse to come by every day: to feed the pig. It was a baby when he found it, no doubt cute, and he named it Zoe. Now, she's very very large but seems perfectly happy to sit in her little cave all day waiting for Etienne to come and caress her, then Jeff to come bring her leftovers. I never realized how expressive a huge, slimy snout could be. She certainly seems happy.

Etienne still gardens vigorously in his subsistence-farming-size plot of land, with its long, clean, even, abundant rows of salad, green beans, tomatoes and beautiful fruit trees, preened to look more like forks (i.e. 2-dimansional). He brings John down every now and then to give him a tutorial in growing things. No honest Bastidole would buy potatoes from a store.

The boys ate about fifty chestnuts each, one after the other, watching and listening to M. Jalabert. Seamus asked why his voice was scratchy, why were his eyes floppy, why his hands shake. Both boys kissed Etienne on the cheek when we left. Every year he says this will be our last such gathering, and he said it again. "This time, for sure."

Chris Momenee - Screenwriter

Christopher Momenee has a master’s degree in French literature from Indiana University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He comes from Toldeo, Ohio. His script Paperboy won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Since then he has written a novel, several screenplays and sold Time Flies, a comedy, to Columbia Pictures. Harley, a comedy, was a semifinalist in the 2004 Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Contest. Chris lives in New York City.

What is, for you, the height of misery?
Seeing my parents get old.

Where would you like to live?
Aix-en-Provence.

Your ideal of earthly happiness?
To never have to work for anyone else other than yourself.

For which faults do you have the greatest amount of indulgence?
Shyness, sloppiness, forgetfulness.

Who are the novelistic heroes whom you prefer?
Holden Caulfield, Long John Silver, Jenny Gerhardt, Victor Frankenstein.

Who is your favorite historical character?
Thoreau.

Your favorite heroines in real life?
Oprah, Sinead O’Connor, me mum.

Your favorite painter?
Van Gogh.

Your favorite musician?
Mike Scott (The Waterboys).

The virtue you most prefer in men?
Humility.

The virtue you most prefer in women?
Beauty (inside and out).

The virtue you prefer?
Compassion.

Your preferred occupation?
Anything creative.

Whom would you have liked to be?
Bono.

The principal trait of my character?
Openness.

The quality you most like in a man?
Sense of humor.


The quality you most like in a woman?
When she is unaware of her beauty…

What I appreciate the most in my friends?
Truthfulness, authenticity.

My principle fault?
Procrastination.

What is your favorite occupation?
Storyteller.

My dream of happiness?
To be a successful storyteller.

What might my greatest misfortune be?
Failing to be a good friend to my friends.

What would I like to be?
Guitar virtuoso.

In what country would you like to live?
France.

The color I prefer?
Blue.

The flower I like?
Tulip.

The bird I prefer?
Cardinal.

My favorite prose authors?
J.D. Salinger, Charles Dickens, Theodore Dreiser, Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Robert Louis Stevenson.

My preferred poets?
Charles Baudelaire, Mary Oliver, Arthur Rimbaud.

My favorite composers?
Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richards, Mike Scott, Carlos Santana.

My favorite painters?
Van Gogh, Hopper, Renoir.

My heroes in real life?
Jefferson, Ghandi, Mandela, FDR.

My favorite historical heroines?
Rachel Carson, Edith Wharton, Sacagawea, Edna St. Vincent Millay.

My favorite names?
Mookie, Olivia, Elizabeth, Timmy, Santiago, Duck-billed Platypus, Yo Yo Ma.

What is it you most dislike?
Inconsiderateness, cell phones, waste, arrogance.

Historical figures whom I scorn the most?
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Adolf Hitler.

The military feat that I admire the most?
The 300 Spartans holding their own against the Greeks.

The reform that I admire the most?
Banning cigarette smoking indoors.

The gift of nature I would like to possess?
Stamina.

How I would like to die?
Struck by a bolt of lightning.

The present state of my mind?
Peace.

What is your slogan?
It’s not you; it’s me.

La Muse English & French Classes

Just back from the first bilingual conversation course offered by La Muse at the social hall here at Labastide Esparbairenque. It went well!

The idea was to offer French conversation courses to La Muse artists and writers (which we've been doing for years) but to extend the sameopportunity to locals needing to learn French, as well as locals wanting to learn English.

First, our attendees like to know about the area and often find themselves at the bread truck wanting desperately to be able to communicate with our French neighbors who want desperately to communicate with our Anglophone clients. Also, we have all these newcomers (a lot of them previous attendees) who've bought houses here and, come on, need to learn the language of their second home! Call it a lingual bridge class...

So, Helene Geyre - she runs a Lama Farm - the French teacher, had two students, Ralph (a toothless Englishman who is often spotted walking in a kilt with his dogs; he lives in nearby Mas Cabardes) and our attendee Michelle Lovegrove Thompson, a writer and filmmaker from Canada (her 26th birthday is Friday). I (Kerry) had three students, Claude and Lillian (both neighbors) and Yvonne (from Roquefere). They're all around 70. I tried to teach them the basics of introduction (What's your name, Where are you from, How old are you, What do you do, etc). It was my first class ever. They were all looking forward to coming back next week...will keep you posted on how it goes!

Salut! (And thanks to John for taking care of the boys!)

Kerry

"France, through her lens"

This is an article written by the photographer Kara Lewis for the Ashland Daily Tidings:

"Guess what? I spoke English most of the time since I've been in France," I said to my friend as we drove to Charles de Gaulle Aéroport on my last morning in France.

It was true, the people I stayed with in five different places in France for the months of August and September all spoke English with me, either because English was their first language as well or they were being nice and did not want to exclude me from their conversations. My trip started with attending the wedding of a friend who I had met during my second year at Southern Oregon University when she was an exchange student from Poland. During the week of the wedding, I met many people from all over the world, and I learned that people are the same no matter where they are from or what language they speak. We are all connected by the thoughts and feelings (and fashion sense) we share as a species.

In particular, I noticed more similarities than differences between French people and people from home. In Carcassonne, a city known for a centuries-old castle called La Cité, I felt almost transported back to the U.S., even though everyone was speaking French around me, because I saw people I would see in any community here: young couples hanging out together, adults working or meeting friends for lunch, individuals running errands or going to a café for coffee and chats with other regulars. Carcassonne particularly reminded me of Ashland as it had music and art festivals, tourists, and a grower's market.

What interests me most about my trip to France is that I felt united with the people I met and the experiences I had because of music and photography. I collected and exchanged music with people I met, and now when I listen to the songs from them I am reminded of that time. Also, I captured moments with my camera (a digital Canon Rebel EOS) that struck me as beautiful or inspiring. I stayed for a month at the artist's and writer's retreat La Muse, a place with French, Irish and American charm, and photographed people, still-lifes, and landscapes. These images, songs, and experiences that I have brought home with me motivate me to return to France. In fact, in the car on the way to the airport for my return trip to Medford, I told my friend, "Guess what else? I'm coming back."

La Muse has rooms for November! Apply through www.lamuseinn.com.

For more photographs of Kara Lewis' trip to France, visit

Ashland Daily Tidings