Q&A: Ernestine Hayes on writing memoir

Joining us for a Q&A this month is Alaska State Writer Laureate Ernestine Hayes. Hayes teaches at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau and has published two memoirs—Blonde Indian and The Tao of Raven—as well as essays, poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories, and children’s books. She belongs to the Kaagwaantaan clan of the Eagle side of the Lingit nation and has four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She talked with us about memoir writing.

At what age did you start writing, and what motivated you to start?
One of the best ways to spark an interest in writing is to read. I was the only child of a single mother who always had a book in hand, so in my pre-television territorial childhood, I read. During those years, I wrote in response to grade school assignments; the earliest writing I remember is a seventh-grade history report titled “Famous and Infamous Characters of Alaska,” which featured Soapy Smith—as I recall, I was proudest of using the word “infamous” in the paper’s title. I didn’t begin writing creative prose and verse until I was in my teens.

Your memoir Blonde Indian has passages of memoir, fiction, Native American stories, and natural history. When writing a memoir, how do you decide what type of material to include?
I simply wrote—the material in Blonde Indian represents writing I did over many years. Everything I’ve written expresses a point in my life, so to me it was all part of that story.

Part of what makes Blonde Indian hold together is its consistent voice. How did you find your voice for memoir writing?
Even though I had always fancied I could write, I didn’t write seriously until I entered college at the age of 50 and learned discipline. Out of discipline, study, and practice, my voice emerged, as it will for anyone who takes up the study of writing down our stories.

What advice would you give other writers about how to maintain their voice through different types of material?
I would suggest to other writers that they read works by writers they admire. I suppose it’s like a painter viewing works of favorite artists, or dancers studying the movements of someone who can really jitterbug.

When writing memoir, do you decide ahead of time what the theme of your book is, or do just write and let the theme find you?
I just write. Sometimes I don’t recognize themes or embedded messages until long after the work is published—sometimes not until someone points it out, and sometimes not at all.

How do you define memoir?
I hesitate to categorize—I tend to consider defining genres as a Western practice that mainly benefits libraries and booksellers, so I cite [Judith] Barrington, who says that memoir is a story from a life, as contrasted with the story of a life.

When writing memoir, have you had any issues with holding back or feeling exposed? If so, how did you get past that?
I got over all that during years of workshops. In Blonde Indian, the only passages I didn’t submit for workshop were the portions that spoke of my mother’s death. The rest of it, including the fiction, is truth, and for the most part, truth belongs to everyone.

How has the act of writing memoir affected you?
I attend more to craft and technique. There exist quite a number of places in Blonde Indian that I would edit or revise. I like to think that Tao of Raven exhibits more attention to craft.

You’ve written many different forms. Which form feels most like you, and why?
I like lyrical prose. I flatter myself that it has to do with the oral tradition that was familiar to me when I was very young.

Were your expectations about writing fulfilled once you started doing it? If not, what have you gained from writing that keeps you at it?
Stories have lives of their own. Style and structure and ideas find us.

What current projects are you working on? Maybe another memoir?
In my writing, I hope to explore lyrical prose/prose poetry. More immediately, I want to explore different methods of giving readings and talks, which the structure of my work appears to recommend.

What do you hope to do in your role as Alaska State Writer Laureate?
I hope to encourage, support, and advance voices that are not otherwise heard. I hope to bring questions of equity to the literary table. I hope to continue to write. I hope to speak out.