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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

Writing isms: would you risk causing offence in your fiction? #amwriting

13/5/2019

10 Comments

 
Much as I despair of living in a country where the birth of a baby is headline news – ditto his naming the following day – I do try to bear in mind that the extended family I involuntarily support via my taxes is made up of human beings, and therefore worthy of my respect. I sincerely hope I’m incapable of channeling my rage at inequality and unearned privilege into a bizarre racist tweet, as a BBC DJ did recently. How could he not know, as he has claimed, that an image of the latest royal baby as an ape would cause offence? But, in reflecting the world as I see it in my fiction, with darkness as well as light, I do risk inadvertently offending my readership, especially in portraying the isms from which, in my other identities, I’m at pains to distance myself.
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My debut novel, Sugar and Snails, about a woman who has kept her past identity secret for thirty years, features scenes of both trans- and homophobia. Although feeling uncomfortable writing both, I wanted to honestly reflect the world in which my character was living in 2004, prior to the Gender Recognition Act transferring legal status, under certain conditions, from a person’s birth gender to their identified gender. Fortunately, I’ve had nothing but support from the LGBTQ community, and should be on safe ground at the forthcoming festival in Nottingham, where I have slots, along with others, on positive relationships and on adolescence.
But homophobia rears its ugly head again in my second novel, Underneath, about a man who seeks to resolve a relationship crisis by keeping a woman captive in a cellar. My narrator, Steve, sneers at his (female) partner’s gay best friend, Jules, but, as Liesel says, this tells us more about his limitations than hers. He can’t bear the envy of his exclusion, as illustrated in a chance meeting in a DIY emporium (p 79-80):

Jules stood grinning, arm-in-arm with a woman who had curves in all the wrong places. Liesel hugged them like she’d not seen them for years. I brushed their hands with mine as Jules introduced me to Maddie.

“So, what are you guys up to?” Perhaps Maddie had spoken, or Liesel or Jules. It could even have been me, with my mouth set to automatic. Maddie tossed her mousy hair over her shoulder, like the Before sequence of a shampoo advert.

… I zoned out … until I could slope off to get my paint.

Sheltered by stacks of tins and roller-ready plastic boxes, the relief was like crossing the border into another country where twelve hours of solid sunshine was written into the constitution. As I pondered the relative merits of pink splash and raspberry rush, the lumberyard smell gave way to sweet patchouli.

“I don’t know what you’ve got against them,” said Liesel.

“I haven’t got anything against them. I just thought I’d leave you to chat.”

“It looks like you’re threatened by them.”

“Why would I feel threatened by those two?”

“Maybe because they’re not interested in your prick.”

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Buried envy also characterises Steve’s childhood friendship with a Sikh boy with whom he often plays when his mother is at work in the doctor’s surgery downstairs. Unable to bear that Jaswinder has a father and he doesn’t, Steve is cruel to his baby sister and denigrates the culture, albeit in safety of his mind (p167):
 
I hate Jaswinder and his daddy and his granny and the baby that doesn’t do anything except throw her toys away. I hate their smelly greasy food that burns the back of my throat and their gabble-gabble language that doesn’t make sense. I hate the cloth picture of the golden palace above the fireplace, the jewelled cushions and the brightly coloured walls. As for that stupid girls’ game, Home from India, I hate that most in the whole world.
 
In these two novels, I’m exploring the roots of prejudice. For Steve in Underneath, it’s an unconscious attempt to plug the hole left by his absent father; in Sugar and Snails it stems more from ignorance, especially in the form of the forthright character, Venus, who flips from criticism to defence of the transgender character, Susan Marlow, within a few chapters. We need to feel free to look directly at difference to embrace diversity, but I still worry that some readers might equate the isms in my fiction with the isms in me.
 
But that doesn’t prevent the themes cropping up again in my short story collection, Becoming Someone. How can they not, when my elixir is truth? The racism in a couple of stories heightens my anxiety at readings, as does the transphobia in my prize-winning short story, “Tobacco and Testosterone”, although the opening here in the video is safe enough:

I wonder what it means that the isms I’ve tended to explore don’t impact on me directly – although I’d argue that they hurt me indirectly by making the world a more unpleasant place. But every woman is affected by misogyny: why haven’t I written more about that? Maybe I do, but it’s less conscious; maybe it’s so ubiquitous, I haven’t properly woken up to its effects. Or maybe I’m happy to leave that to other writers as other types of injustice interest me more.
 
I’m now old enough to be subjected to ageism, but I’m not sure how much I’ll notice when being sixty feels so much better than being sixteen or six. But it’s also the case that sixty is much younger nowadays than when I was growing up, although, much to my delight and amusement, I had occasion to see myself perceived as old and doddery a few years before I crossed that line. When I shared the opening of my possibly third novel, Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, about a brother and sister separated for fifty years, with my critique group, I was questioned about a reference to Matty as a “septuagenarian”, but I feel it’s justified by the 1990s setting, when seventy was old, and that’s from the point of view of a woman in her early 20s. And, to give Janice her due, she’s a staunch defender of Matty’s rights to a better life, despite her advanced age.
 
While there are other isms in that novel, especially in the parts set in the 1930s and around one of the main themes, mental health, I’ll put them aside until further along the road to publication, and saddle up for the latest flash fiction challenge.


I was tempted to write about Matty’s ageing. I also considered the joys of past-its-use-by-date brie. But I couldn’t resist a return to the family who kicked off his post with mother-and-son dialogue that might not be far from the truth.

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From mother to son
 
“Did you hear the one about the Japanese Emperor, Mamma? He ab-ab-ab …”
 
”Abrogated his responsibilities? Abandoned his subjects to his imbecile son?”
 
“Don’t you get tired, Mamma? All that travelling. Dressing up in your gladrags. Smiling at proles waving silly flags.”
 
“Of course I get tired. I’m ninety-three. But duty must trump human frailties. That’s what monarchy means.”
 
“Talking of The Donald, how can you …”
 
“There’s a man who tears up the rulebook …”
 
“As you could too, Mamma.”
 
“You know what I’d really like, Charles? If I could skip a generation. Give my grandson a turn.”
 
There’s a monarch with an eye to succession in “Heir to the Throne”, one of the more playful stories in my collection, Becoming Someone. It’s written in the style of a fairytale and, if you like fractured fairytales, you might enjoy my fresh-off-the-press story, “Her Knight in Shining Armour”, which you can read for free courtesy of the online magazine, Amarillo Bay.
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
10 Comments
Geoff Le Pard
13/5/2019 11:12:17 pm

not interested in a royal baby? How could you!! Personally I think keeping royalty as our national pets is the equivalent of group abuse. Poor sods; yep they have bundles of dough but who, really wants what they have to put up with? Anyhoo, moving on, I understand your point exactly. In my first book that I write for my MA, the mother evidences classic racist tendencies when a family of Ugandan Asians come to live in their B&B. My tutor warned me to moderate her views or risk alienating modern readers from what was overall a sympathetic portrait. I really struggled with that advice, as to do so seemed a cop out; I well recalled Love Thy Neighbour and Alf Garnett as main steam TV. People who today would be horrified to be thought of in those racist terms were clearly capable of causing huge offence back then. My parents amongst them. Me too, I expect.
Oh and I can have no sympathy for D Baker. He is a long standing Millwall football fan. If there's one club where monkey chants would rain down from the terraces aimed at black players it would be at the Den. He well knew would be my take.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
14/5/2019 11:24:14 am

Thanks for adding your experience, Geoff.
Actually, I do feel slightly uplifted by this particular royal baby owing to that sliver of African-American heritage, and it’s good to see the current generation of princely parents giving a bit more priority to the well-being of their offspring. I wouldn’t want their jobs but I do think the overall sycophancy demeans us all.
It’s a pity your tutor advocated a dumbing down rather than helping you to find a way to navigate those tricky waters. Absolutely, racism was the norm when we were growing up and we probably still carry some unconscious residue. I suppose that could have been the case for this DJ. But you’re right to highlight the football link where this kind of abuse continues. A football fan couldn’t not know about that as you say.

Reply
D. Avery link
14/5/2019 01:45:46 am

That's a fine flash, very clever. And Knight in Shining Armor? Mike drop. Very well done. Dang.
Thinking we play in different leagues. I should go now.
But the isms? Real people really have isms. Suffer them and subject others to them. So what's wrong with characters being real, especially if the story is sympathetic, not on its own a big old ism. And as you mention, one has to consider the time and place of the story and not totally fictionalize that. It is what it is or was, those isms.
If an ism is of another time, a past time, is it a wasm?

Reply
Anne Goodwin
14/5/2019 11:30:52 am

Thanks for reading both stories, D, and for your generous thumbs up. Now the notion of different leagues takes us to football (soccer to you) and the racist chants of supporters previously dismissed as banter/par for the course – it gets more attention now but sadly still not a wasm. Roll on the day when all our isms become wasms.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
14/5/2019 11:52:41 am

Anne, thank you for linking to the Knight in Shining Armour. How clever. I love it. I love that you drag in a variety of support personnel for Ella's malaise and am delighted that it's the herbalist who wins the day. I'm not quite sure why she had to be back by dawn, but maybe that's because she was. What a great ruse agoraphobia is for a writer. I think I suffer a little from it at times :)
I may not accuse you of any of the isms you mention in your post, but I wonder if your flash reveals your real feelings on the topic. Regardless, it's excellent in getting its message across. I think many would like to see the generation skipped. Isn't he too old anyway? He's already in his seventies. :)

Reply
Anne Goodwin
14/5/2019 12:22:07 pm

Thanks, Norah, I’m glad you enjoyed my new story and it’s a fair point about the getting back before dawn – I suppose herbalists can attach any conditions they choose!
As for my flash, king-in-waiting is a terrible job for anyone, but I don’t mind owning up to put in my own sentiments into the mouth of the Queen – if that isn’t too grandiose!

Reply
Charli Mills
15/5/2019 09:44:21 pm

"My elixir is truth," is shaping up to be a great tagline for the Anne Goodwin brand. It expands to fit your vast array of short-story and novel topics. Even if you don't have a specific genre, you can continue to level up commercially writing your truth. I also think that's why your writing about isms is powerful because you are authentic in seeking the truths of those injustices, creating characters who do and experience the damage of isms. I would agree that racism is rooted in plain old ignorance or cruelty based on a hole in the self. But both choose to react to stay ignorant or mean. Lots of fictional fodder.

Have a great time at the festival in Nottingham! It looks fun and covers so much. It remains a vulnerable community. Recently I read an article stating that the root of all isms is misogyny. Kind of like, hating women is the gateway to hating others. Interesting thought. But does seem relevant that many racists and homophobes are misogynists, too.

How else can explore the influencers of our peripheral lives if not through fiction? I like your slip into the Queen's skin and mind.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/5/2019 10:22:29 am

Charli, I was very moved by your comment and so must apologise for the delay in responding. I think you’re right in nailing this as my brand – it sums up the overlap between me and my fiction. I need to just flow with it for a while as if I think about it too much it seems grandiose or holier-than-thou!

I’m interested in the suggestion that the roots of isms are in misogyny. I think hatred of women comes from hatred of/fear of mothers which most of us have a bit of from our experience of parenting, even if our mothers were good enough or better. In psychoanalytic theory that’s an early stage of development when we perceive the world in stark black and white terms, which of course continues with prejudice. Not expressing this very well but I’m agreeing with you!

Reply
Liz Husebye Hartmann link
16/5/2019 03:01:40 pm

I'd love to see a tag team monarchy, with both grandsons and grand daughters-in-law...time to shake and settle. We all need a dose of sanity these days.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/5/2019 10:11:38 am

Thanks, Liz. It can’t be good for anyone having to wait until well past retirement age to begin one’s career – unless by choice. Or it could be that the job matters so little it’s irrelevant how the person is appointed.

Reply



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