2008 Woodie Awards
Novelist depicts Turkish culture
Sean Leviashvili
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: The Inside
Author Beth Helms tested her skills as a fiction novelist in her first novel, "Dervishes," after going from speech writing to crafting short stories. Helms spoke at Northeastern Tuesday to present her book and provide a question-and-answer session for audience members. The event was part of Snell Library's Meet the Author series.
Presenting to an intimate crowd of about 35 people in Ell Hall, Helms explained the premise for "Dervishes," which takes place in 1975 Ankara, Turkey. The novel gives insight into the lives of an American diplomat's wife, named Grace, and her daughter, Canada. Helms said she spent her childhood in communities in Iran, Iraq, Germany and Turkey similar to the one she described.
"Diplomatic communities are odd places," Helms said. "I lived in Turkey for five years and in these [locations], there is an artificial sense of community."
After an audience member asked Helms how she prepared "Dervishes," she said she doesn't approach writing with a clear strategy and said each experience is different.
But the job is never easy, she said.
"I think so much of writing is craft," Helms said. "It's work. You have to try and make things up as realistically as you can."
Though "Dervishes" is Helms' first finished novel, her previous fictional works received acclaim. "American Wives," a series of her short stories, won the 2003 Iowa Short Fiction Award. Helms is currently working on her second novel, but gave few details about it.
Helms' presentation fell short of an hour, but managed to impress various audience members.
"[The presentation] was great, but shorter than I expected," said Yan Li, a middler majoring in history. "I do wish I read the novel before, though. I'm interested to see what the gender dimension is."
Helms addressed the issue of gender after the presentation, saying that the novel focuses mainly on the lives of women, but men play a significant role as well.
Presenting to an intimate crowd of about 35 people in Ell Hall, Helms explained the premise for "Dervishes," which takes place in 1975 Ankara, Turkey. The novel gives insight into the lives of an American diplomat's wife, named Grace, and her daughter, Canada. Helms said she spent her childhood in communities in Iran, Iraq, Germany and Turkey similar to the one she described.
"Diplomatic communities are odd places," Helms said. "I lived in Turkey for five years and in these [locations], there is an artificial sense of community."
After an audience member asked Helms how she prepared "Dervishes," she said she doesn't approach writing with a clear strategy and said each experience is different.
But the job is never easy, she said.
"I think so much of writing is craft," Helms said. "It's work. You have to try and make things up as realistically as you can."
Though "Dervishes" is Helms' first finished novel, her previous fictional works received acclaim. "American Wives," a series of her short stories, won the 2003 Iowa Short Fiction Award. Helms is currently working on her second novel, but gave few details about it.
Helms' presentation fell short of an hour, but managed to impress various audience members.
"[The presentation] was great, but shorter than I expected," said Yan Li, a middler majoring in history. "I do wish I read the novel before, though. I'm interested to see what the gender dimension is."
Helms addressed the issue of gender after the presentation, saying that the novel focuses mainly on the lives of women, but men play a significant role as well.
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