Spark is a collection of essays about how real life and creativity collide, revealed through many conversations on Studio 360, the fastest growing show in Public Radio International’s history. Artists, filmmakers, architects, sound engineers, writers and musicians share their experiences of creating solutions out of adversity, incorporating family and home life into their work, growing in creative partnerships, and how they get to work, start again and understand when a creative effort is actually finished.
One of the writers featured in Spark is one with whom Mississippians are familiar: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford. The foundation for Ford’s creativity began in childhood out of adversity. As a child, Ford never dreamed of becoming a novelist; he rarely even read as he struggled with dyslexia. Reading out loud turned out to be faster than reading silently and as a result he became acutely aware of the sounds and rhythms of language as he lingered over sentences and eventually began to write his own stories. When he was writing The Lay of the Land, Ford and his wife, Kristina, took turns reading passages aloud to each other, discussing melody and meaning of the lines. Ford says: “I feel like if I don’t read things aloud, I don’t really fully authorize them. I have to hear everything, hear what every sentence sounds like. I write so somebody will read what I write.”
Spark is a delightful book to pack in your bag as you travel this summer. From Richard Ford to Roseanne Cash to Kevin Bacon to the collaboration of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Spark illuminates the creative life and inspires. You will also learn the story of how Studio 360 became such a successful show despite some of its key players having no radio experience. I’ll leave you with the wisdom of Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, a great inspiration for Studio 360 host Kurt Anderson: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”
Spark: How Creativity Works by Julie Burstein, foreword by Kurt Anderson, $14.99
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