Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Why He Prefers Women Protagonists in His Novels

Elizabeth Floyd Mair of the Times Union talks with Chris Bohjalian (who visits Thursday) about Sandcastles Girls, his novel of the Armenian genocide, based partly on stories from his own family.

In the interview, Bohjalian talks about why he prefers women protagonists in his novels:

I find your gender a lot more interesting than mine — more willing to take emotional risks and more communicative. I think the only reason golf was invented was so that men would talk to each other.

When I write across gender, I begin with the universals — what unites us as human beings, not what makes us different as women and men. Then, as my characters develop, they find their own behavioral idiosyncrasies and quirks. Sometimes they're gender-specific, but not always.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Sandcastle-Girls-is-a-personal-tale-4445861.php#ixzz2RIfgEYmU