Again Calls The Owl Sketch, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Margaret Craven worked as a journalist and didn’t publish her first novel until her late 60’s (something I find strangely hopeful). Born in Helena, Montana in 1901, she grew up in Puget Sound, Washington of meager means, worked hard to be one of the first women to attend Stanford, and graduated in 1924 with honors.
Craven’s novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name was first published in Canada in 1967. Picked up by an American publisher in 1973, the book was on the 1970’s bestseller list. It was made into a film in 1973 and shown as part of the CBS television network’s “GE Theater” series.
Near the end of her life, Craven wrote Again Calls the Owl, an autobiography in response to readers’ questions about how she came to write I Heard the Owl Call My Name. On a recent visit, Liz’s mother bought an old copy of Again Calls the Owl to read on her plane ride from Wyoming to Minnesota. She passed it on to me.
As opposed to memoir, the book is sparsely written in the autobiographical style of laying down significant chronological events that shaped the author’s life. A highpoint was Craven’s unexpected rendezvous with writer Gertrude Stein. A friend of Margaret’s had grown up in San Francisco with Alice B. Toklas and arranged a meeting when Stein came to town for a hospital visit at Mark Hopkins.
Alice B. Toklas walked Margaret into Gertrude’s room where she sat on her bed writing letters in a red velvet robe (an image not hard to imagine). Stein welcomed the young writer and they had a long chat about writing that ended with Stein’s sadness at her friend Ernest Hemingway and “the change that had come with The Sun Also Rises,” something she termed “the beginning of his egomania.”
Again Calls the Owl is a short read, about 120 pages, and includes Craven’s pencil drawings interspersed throughout the book. I wanted to share Stein’s writing advice to Margaret during their three hour visit. She wrote down what Stein had told her on the cable car ride home:
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“Every writer must have common sense. He must be sensitive and serious. But he must not grow solemn. He must not listen to himself. If he does, he might as well be under a tombstone. When he takes himself solemnly, he has no more to say. Yet he must despise nothing, not even solemn people. They are part of life and it’s his job to write about life.”
“Be direct. Indirectness ruins good writing. There is inner confusion in the world today and because of it people are turning back to old standards like children to their mothers. This makes indirect writing.”
“A writer must preserve a balance between sensitivity and vitality. Highbrow writers are sensitive but not vital. Commercial writers are vital but not sensitive. Trying to keep this balance is always hard. It is the whole job of living.”
“When one writes a thing — when you discover and then put it down, which is the essence of discovering it — one is done with it. What people get out of it is none of the writer’s business.”
“Every writer is self-conscious. It’s one reason he is a writer. And he is lonely. If you know three writers in a lifetime, that is a great many.”
“You do not have to write what the editors want. You can write what you want and if you develop sufficient craftsmanship, you can sell it, too. I want you to write for the Saturday Evening Post. It demands the best craftsmanship.”
-Gertrude Stein from Again Calls the Owl by Margaret Craven, Dell Publishing, 1980
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Though Gertrude asked Margaret to stay in touch, she never contacted Stein again. I recently learned from Bo’s blog Seeded Earth that there is a statue of Gertrude Stein in New York City’s Bryant Park. Much to my amazement, it was the first public statue of an American woman placed in the whole of New York City — it was installed in 1992. (Here’s the link to view Bo’s photograph of Gertrude at Seeded Earth and read more about the sculpture.)
I see Craven’s euphoria about her visit with Stein much the way I feel when I go and hear Nikki Giovanni, Ann Patchett, Patricia Smith, Steve Almond, or Mary Oliver talk about their work and have a chance to shake their hands when they sign my books. Or when our Poetry and Meditation Group receives a card from Billy Collins, Gary Soto, or Robert Bly.
It is the same joy I feel from the privilege of having studied with Natalie Goldberg. The things she has taught me about the practice of writing are immeasurable. There is much to be learned from the wisdom and knowledge of published writers who have already paid their dues.
At the end of Again Calls the Owl, Craven reflects on Walk Gently This Good Earth, her novel about growing up in the Cascades and her father’s life in Montana. One last quote from Craven urges writers to take heed:
A professional writer must be careful what he writes now about the past which could be used to hurt innocent people unmercifully.
I think it’s time my country does what the Indians of Kingcome are doing. We must return to our roots, our own safety and integrity, and I think this is beginning to occur. Our lives depend upon it.
-from Again Calls the Owl by Margaret Craven, Dell Publishing, 1980
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Resources:
- Margaret Craven biography at BC Bookworld
- Reviews of I Heard the Owl Call My Name at Barnes & Noble
- Cover Art of releases of I Heard the Owl Call My Name at Library Thing
- I Heard the Owl Call My Name at Powell’s Books
- Again Calls the Owl at Powell’s Books
- Review & Comparison of Walk Gently This Good Earth to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird — Westcotts & Finches at Mirkwood
-posted on red Ravine, Monday, August 10th, 2009 with gratitude to oliverowl
-related to post: Book Talk – Do You Let Yourself Read?
Nice post, QM. There’s a gentleness about it that is soothing.
I enjoyed reading both Craven’s and Stein’s advice on writing. I broke out my notebook today over dinner. One of the great things about writing (and reading) is that you never feel alone at a restaurant even if you are alone. Another way of saying, I kind of use my notebook and pen as my companion when I want to go out but don’t have anyone to go out with.
But truthfully, it was nice to eat and write. I haven’t been writing lately (as you know, since you haven’t gotten any writing practices from me while I’ve been here) so it felt good to slip back into it. I did a first draft of a post I hope to put up tomorrow.
I love Craven’s drawing, the one that’s showing on the photo you took. Very indigenous looking. What was her ethnicity? (sorry, I’ll go follow the link you provided on her)
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QM,
What a great post; I had no idea about the connection between Gertrude and Margaret. Your post inspires me to read Again Calls the Owl.
When I was a sophmore in college, I spent J-Term in the woods of upper Michigan taking a course called “Winter Literature.” It was hands-down the best college course I had in four years. We read I Heard the Owl Call My Name, amongst others. The professor was one of those rare teachers, the sort who helped us understand how to read good literature without beating the life out of it. It’s been over 25 years since I took that class, and I still remember most of what we read. The teacher was that good.
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I’m sorry to say I’ve never read Gertrude Stein, though I’ve heard about her for years.
What Stein book do you suggest I start with?
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ybonesy, great to hear from you. Sounds like each trip to Vietnam tops the last! Glad you were able to carve out some time for Writing Practice. When I’m on the road, there is so much going on I often don’t make the time to sit down and write. But when I do, I find I capture the details of the moment in much more vivid detail than when trying to reconstruct it all after I return home. It’s rewarding to go back and read practices from when I’m away from home (and resulting posts).
I haven’t read Margaret Craven’s I Heard the Owl Call My Name. But from what I’ve read, it’s considered one of those classics like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird (one reason I found the Resources: Westcotts & Finches at Mirkwood review and comparison of Mockingbird and I Heard the Owl fascinating). Though the two books may seem outdated by today’s standards, at the time they were written they addressed cultural issues that not many people were talking about.
I read at the BC link that I Heard the Owl Call My Name was set in Kingcome Inlet, in a remote Kwakwaka’wkaw community about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver. and was inspired by the life of Anglican missionary Eric Powell. The biography goes on to say that “though the book was a sympathetic rendering of Aboriginal dilemmas in the 1960s, the protagonist is white and Craven’s knowledge of Kwakwaka’wkaw culture borders on superficial.” Again, this is looking through the eyes of today’s standards, a different time in history.
I tend to read mostly nonfiction and Again Calls the Owl about the author’s life through her own eyes was fascinating. It is not the most well-written book in terms of the kinds of autobiographies or memoirs we might read today. And if I’m not mistaken, it was written the same year she died. It seemed like a way to get some of the facts of her life down before it was too late. I always enjoy learning about authors’ lives so was glad Liz’s Mom gave it to me to read. Maybe she’ll weigh in on the book, too, if she has a chance to read this post. I know she thoroughly enjoyed Again Calls the Owl.
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Sinclair, though there are many Gertrude Stein books to choose from, I’ve only read a couple of them. I like reading about authors’ lives so I read The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas which is actually Stein’s memoir (and one of her most read books). I read parts of The Making of Americans where, I think, “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” came from. But at the time I started reading it, I wasn’t a very sophisticated reader. I might appreciate it more now. I’d personally like to read her first published book, Three Lives (1909). I read that it’s the stories of three working-class women and has been called a minor masterpiece.
I remember in the 1980’s when a new movie came out about Stein and Alice B. Toklas. I think it was Gertrude Stein and a Companion (1986) but I can’t remember for sure. A kind of half experimental movie about their lives. There is also When This You See Remember Me (1970). And Waiting for the Moon.
I’d like to see When This You See Remember Me (LINK):
Alice B. Toklas wrote her own memoir The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook in 1954, after Stein died. There is so much written about these two women. It’s amazing what you can find out there. What I liked about the Margaret Craven connection to Gertrude Stein is that I had not heard about it before or read what Stein had told her about writing.
Here are a few other interesting links:
—A Letter from Gertrude Stein Northside: Pennsylvania (LINK)
—2 WORKS ON GERTRUDE STEIN AND ALICE B. TOKLAS (LINK) – NY Times on Waiting for the Moon and Gertrude Stein and a Companion
One of my personal favorites of Gertrude Stein’s quotes:
“To write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write”.
It reminds of “Shut up and write.” 8)
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Teri, thanks so much. I’d like to read I Heard the Owl Call My Name, too. I’m really curious now. I probably never would have run across Again Calls the Owl if not for Liz’s Mom talking about it after she arrived. I then picked it up the day she and Liz were working on their family tree and read about half of it that day. That’s the day I ran into the Gertrude Stein pages. Do you remember anything in particular about I Heard the Owl Call My Name from the first time you read it?
That teacher had a big impact on you. Sounds like she taught you to love good literature. I bet it shaped the kind of teacher you became as well. Can’t underestimate the value of a good teacher in our lives. Grateful everyday for the ones that inspired me along the way.
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Thanks for the recommended Gertrude Stein reading list. I’m happy to have a place to start with her work.
I look forward to reading all the links on my day off!
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QM,
I remember the mystical feeling of “Owl”–the vicar going to the remote village where the traditions and customs were unfamiliar and beautiful. Since reading this post, I’ve already put it on hold at the library. I can’t wait to read it again.
The books we read during that J-Term class all had to do with the interaction of man and nature. There was a lot of Jack London, Stephan Crane short stories, Robert Frost poetry, and Margaret Craven (of course). It was an entire month of nothing but reading and eating. Not a bad way to spend a January in the Upper Midwest.
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Sinclair, will be curious to see what you think of her work and which books you choose to read. A couple of other fun tidbits about Gertrude Stein that I found in the post links:
+Stein and her brother were among the first collectors of works by the Cubists and other experimental painters of the period, such as Pablo Picasso (who painted her portrait), Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque, several of whom became her friends.
+in her own work, she attempted to parallel the theories of Cubism. Among her work that was most thoroughly influenced by Cubism is Tender Buttons (1914).
+spent her infancy in Vienna and Paris and her girlhood in Oakland, California
+studied psychology with the philosopher William James (brother of novelist Henry James) at Radcliffe College
+became a legend in Paris after surviving the German occupation of France and befriending the many young American servicemen who visited her who she wrote about Brewsie and Willie (1946).
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Teri, those are great writers to read for the Winter Literature class you attended. It makes me think: what might be some contemporary writers that embody that nature theme. Maybe Terry Tempest Williams, Wendell Berry, Sigurd Olson, Gary Snyder, Barry Lopez, Linda Hogan. Leslie Marmon Silko.
Or maybe some of them would be called landscape writers. Anyone know of any others that might get added to the list? I need more Winter. 8)
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I spent this afternoon reading Again Calls the Owl. I’m anxious to read Margaret’s novel again, now that I know the back-story of how she got her material for I Heard the Owl Call My Name.
My two favorite passages from Again Calls the Owl:
“For the first time I realized that professional creative writing is the only craft that must be practiced in silence and solitude. No happy chattering. No begging matches. I was alone. I had never known such loneliness, surrounded by an avalanche of crumpled yellow paper only good enough to end up on the floor.”
“I had that strange feeling an old professional feels when, usually after long search, he collides with material he recognizes somehow as his own.”
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Teri, makes my day that you have already read Again Calls the Owl and come back to report on it. You never know when you do these kinds of posts who is going to be reading, who is going to actually read the books you are writing about.
The two passages you picked out were great quotes on writing. I remember reading them. When you read about Margaret Craven’s life, you realize that everything sort of fell into place for her around I Heard the Owl Call My Name…but she also worked her butt off with her writing. It was a combination.
The loneliness of writing is something I am always surprised by. Even though I kind of knew it going in, there is nothing like that feeling of being totally alone with your writing. You’ve got to have a strong stomach to continue.
I hope to read I Heard the Owl Call My Name sometime in the future. I’m also still curious about anything oliverowl has to say on this post. I’ll have to chat with her about it. More to come.
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I picked up “I Heard The Owl” last night at the East Lake Library. The copy I have has the same sort of simple sketched cover as “Again Calls.” I can picture the program in northern Michigan where I read this the first time…a mere child of 20 sitting in front of a fire in the cabin where they housed us. What was I thinking then? How did I think my life was going to go? Differently than it has, of course, but I’m happy to look back at that young woman with tenderness.
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Teri, I’d like to read I Heard The Owl, too. I’ll have to reserve it at the library near us. It’s fun to put the whole picture together of how a writer comes to write the stories she does. Hope you’ll let us know what you think after you read it for the second time. Sometimes books don’t hold the same thing for us the second time we read them as they do the first. I’ll be curious to know what you experience. There are days I wish I could take all the experience and wisdom I have now and go back to my twenties for a few years to see if I could harness some of that crazy young energy. Well, I thought about it….hmmmm. Nah!
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