Andrea Barrett: 2009: Ship Fever
Photo by Nick Vagnoni Andrea Barrett's acclaimed novels and short-stories are marked by their investigation of scientific and historical themes. In this recording from the 2009 Key West Literary Seminar, Barrett explains how she began to write about science and history in the short story form after the disappointment of writing four unsuccessful novels. "With nothing to lose," Barrett recounts, "I began to write about the thing that I actually loved the most, but had never dared to write fiction about before." She follows this account with an excerpt from "Ship Fever," the title novella of her National Book Award-winning first collection of short stories. In it, Lockland Grant, a bright young doctor who has come to the island of Gros Île in 1847 to treat the population of newly landed Irish immigrants, has fallen victim to the typhus epidemic raging through the community.
From KWLS 2009: Historical Fiction and the Search for Truth
(11:13) / 5.2 MB
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This recording is being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2009 Andrea Barrett. Used with generous permission from Andrea Barrett.
The journal of the Key West Literary Seminar features recordings from our
audio archives, exclusive interviews, essays, news about the Seminar, and
dispatches from Key West's literary past and present. It is created by Arlo
Haskell. Send email to arlo [at] kwls [dot] org
Each January, we explore a different literary theme through lectures, panel presentations, readings, informal gatherings, and discussions. In January 2011, we explore food in literature with our 29th annual Seminar, THE HUNGRY MUSE.
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Audio recordings on this page and elsewhere on www.kwls.org are being made
available for educational and noncommmercial use only. All rights to the recorded
material belong to the author or authors speaking. © 2008, 2009.
The Key West Literary Seminar Audio Archives Project is sponsored in part by the
State of Florida, Department of State, Division of
Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
