Writer Nicholas Garnett: “In the Pink”
Introduction to Nicholas Garnett. 1:58 min. Interview: Raymond Elman. Post-Production: Lee Skye. Music: Bob Moses: “Tearing Me Up.” Recorded via Zoom: 2/25/2022, Miami.
NICHOLAS GARNETT received his MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University (FIU), where he was a two-time recipient of the school’s literary award in nonfiction. He has taught creative writing at FIU, the Miami Book Fair International, and Writing Class Radio. Garnett is a freelance editor and co-producer of the Miami-based live storytelling series, Lip Service: True Stories Out Loud. He is a recipient of residencies from the Vermont Studio Center and the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and fellowships to the Norman Mailer Art Colony and Writers in Paradise. He is the editor of award-winning Zimbabwean writer Chenjerai Hove’s memoir, Homeless Sweet Home. Garnett’s writing has appeared in Salon.com, Sliver of Stone, R-KV-RY Quarterly, The Florida Book Review, and Truehumor.com, has been awarded Sundress Publication’s “Best of the Net”; and anthologized in Tigertail, A South Florida Poetry Annual; Best Sex Writing of 2013; Sliver of Stone’s nonfiction anthology All That Glitters; and the title story to Badass: Lip Service: True Stories, the Double Album.
The videos below are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.
EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 2:04 min.
You grew up in Washington, D.C. What was your first awareness of art of any discipline?
DEVELOP A VOICE: 2:39 min.
What motivated you to pursue writing?
SERENDIPITY: 0:39 sec.
Why did you move to Miami?
DEVELOP A VOICE: 4:48 min.
I couldn’t help but notice and be engaged by the “film noir” style “patter” to the dialogue in your memoir.
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 6:28 min.
In your memoir, you describe the similarities between your mother and your first wife, Rachael — most especially their propensity to surround themselves with gay men.
SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 9:44 min.
I had a house in the Provincetown area, on the northern tip of Cape Cod, from 1970 to 2012. As you know, Provincetown is a major art colony and one of the most important and vibrant gay communities in the world. It was also home to a major Portuguese whaling and fishing community, and the first landing place of the Pilgrims in 1620.
RESPECTS OTHERS POINTS OF VIEW: 4:12 min.
Did you ever spend a whole summer in Provincetown?
PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 6:47 min.
How long did it take you to write your memoir?
SERENDIPITY: 7:25 min.
How did you meet your current wife, and what has been your experience with being a stepfather?
OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 6:20 min.
There are several broad themes in your memoir — a straight guy in a gay world, the global party circuit, the toll of drugs — but to me, the most interesting thing is that you escaped and became a good writer.
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 1:19 min.
What is that device behind you, over your right shoulder?
CRITICAL THINKING: 4:41 min.
What is your ex-wife doing now? And has your current wife ever met her?
OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 4:51 min.
When you were participating in the global gay party circuit, did you change your speech patterns to make yourself sound like you might be gay?
CRITICAL THINKING: 3:11 min.
In 1972, in Provincetown, my girlfriend joined a small “Women’s Awareness” group. So I helped organize a “Men’s Awareness” group. And the group came to the conclusion that bi-sexuality was the most civilized way to behave.
