Jack Dann

Q-1.

What country/ethnicity/culture do you identify yourself with?

 

A-1.

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Although I’m an ex-pat American who has lived in Australia for almost twenty years, I’d still consider myself to be a cultural New Yorker.​

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Q-2.
 

SF/F/Horror/Slipstream genre has always been dominated by Anglo-American language. Is Anglo-American genre fiction is your major influence?
 

A-2.

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I would say that Anglo-American genre fiction is a major influence, but other non-genre influences (Anglo-American, European, and others) are equally important.

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Q-3.
 

Give us the ratio of your reading of Anglo-American fiction against your own or non-English literature. Currently.
 

A-3.

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That’s a difficult ask, as I’m doing research for a novel that takes place during the Italian Renaissance, and so I’m reading a lot of nonfiction, poetry, and the like translated from Latin, Italian, and ancient Hebrew and Aramaic (as part of the book takes place in Palestine). If I had to give a ratio, I’d say 80/20.

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Q-4.
 

To our dismay, a lot of so called World things are actually American ones. From Baseball's World series to our genre's Worldcon (almost) or World Fantasy Awards. How can we correct it to its real structure, into the real chaotic world?
 

A-4.

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I’ve run into this here in Australia when I describe my novel The Silent as a Civil War novel. Well, I mean the American civil war, but Australians immediately think of England. I think the problem is that American culture is so pervasive that many consider it in terms of world culture. I think other cultures need to get their ‘word’ out there... as you are doing with these interviews.

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Q-5.

Yet, it's true that we're culturally much influenced by American pop culture. Haruki Murakami cannot write like he does now without his American literature and Jazz influence. Is it the same for your case? Can you imagine you write without that influence at all?
 

A-5.

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Actually, no, I can’t. I’ve lived in the US most of my life, and it influences the way I write, talk, and in a sense, how I think. But... I think that a world perspective can be readily seen in some of my work such as The Memory Cathedral.

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Q-6.
 

But these days a lot of young writers and editors work in English language and for American market. Do you hold any grudge against working like this? Or is it a natural reaction to that influence?
 

A-6.

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Well, as I’m, alas, monolingual――and my language is English――there’s not a lot I can say about that, except that I believe e-books are changing how markets work. From my own rather selfish perspective, I’m very interested in having my work available in as many languages as possible. And that’s something I’ve yet to figure out as regards the e-book market.

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Q-7.
 

If and when you have to write in English, do you do that to English-American readers, or to the global readers?
 

A-7.
 

As I mentioned above, I do write in English, but I always have a world audience in mind――like all writers, I want to reach as large an audience as possible.

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Q-8.

Is there any works or writers from your local scene you can sincerely recommend to the world readers? And why do you recommend them? Is it because they have no equivalent works or writers in Anglo-American scene? Or is it because they perfectly fit there and have many things in common that we should share? Which do you think is important, originality, or affinity?
 

A-8.
 

I could go on and on recommending American, British, and Australian writers whom I know and whose work I respect. But these are writers who write in English, and, hence, are very much a part of the Anglo-Australian!-American scene. I believe the problem is one of translation and marketing of those writers who work in other languages. I’d certainly be interested in reading what they write if I could obtain their work as easily as I can get English language books.​

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Q-9.
 

Have you ever read and liked any Japanese works, in and out of our genre? What aspect of it attracted you?
 

A-9.
 

This is terribly embarrassing, but I can’t give you any specifics.

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Q-10.
 

Could you please explain what you do to promote foreign literature to your readers or your own works to foreign readers?
 

A-10.

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I’ve promoted Australian fiction to the rest of the (admittedly) English speaking world through Australian anthologies such as Dreaming Down-Under, edited with my partner Janeen Webb) and its sequel Dreaming Again.