Tania James Revealed
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. The first few minutes of seeing a loved one after a stretch of time spent apart. For example, were I ever to see my dog Oscar, a hairy mellow guy, bounding through the forest in which he disappeared years ago, I would probably describe that moment of reunion as the most perfect kind of happiness, the kind that is touched by sadness as well.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. I am in Heathrow airport at the moment, on my way back from a visit to Sierra Leone. An hour ago, the entire airport was evacuated to a corner of the building, with no real explanation other than 'security breach' while men with tall guns and fat vests jogged through the airport, looking stern. We have now been returned to our gates, after about an hour of waiting out the security breach. So as I return to this question now, I have to say that my greatest fear is having to sit next to a toddler on an international flight.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. Back in Sierra Leone, or more specifically, on Number 2 beach. I agree--the name is unappealing. But that may be the most naturally beautiful spot I've ever been, almost entirely unpeopled when I went, with the sea before me and the mountains behind.
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. In my writing? That question seems akin to asking which part of one's body has accreted the most cellulite over the years. In other words: I'd prefer not to draw attention to my writerly cellulite. As for overused words and phrases in conversation: I have a tendency towards "Dangit" and "Yikes."
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. I wish I could break dance. Also, I wish I could sing.
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. I am easily distracted at times, during conversation, even when I myself am speaking, during which I may find myself thinking about the age of a tree out my window or about the cancerous effects of cell phones...sorry what was the question?
- Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
- A. When I was in grade school, I dressed up as Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark through their western expedition of the early United States, and did a presentation as if I were Sacajawea. Maybe it was the fact that she was the only person in our history book who even remotely resembled me, but I felt a sort of irrational kinship with her. But in all my research, I never heard her story from her own voice; the journey was always reported through Lewis and Clark or other men. If I could meet Sacajawea, I would apologize for sticking a feather over my braids and trying to approximate her accent by omitting articles. After that, I would ask her to tell me what it was like to be stolen from her family at such a young age, what it was like to lead a pack of men across unknown country, what it was like to carry her newborn baby along the way, what it was like to reunite with her brother after so many years of absence.
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. I like to take walks by a body of water; soon, when things warm up, it'll be the Hudson River. I like to dance (not break dance). I like to read and read and read.
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. I always loved and dreaded the thought of being an airplane pilot. I guess the dread is what kept that a fantasy.
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Humility, humor, compassion
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. Tangelos
On Books and Writing
- Q. How did you come to write Atlas of Unknowns?
- A. It began with a story my father told me at Christmas time, when many Kerala Christian children set off firecrackers to celebrate the holiday. My father spoke of one boy who had set off a firecracker, which had not fully detonated when it fell to the ground, so when the boy picked up the firecracker, it exploded in his hand, leaving him with severe burns. That image kept returning to me, until I wrote it down a month later. I wrote drafts upon drafts of that scene, and slowly the characters fell into place. In that scene, I had a sense of the mother's absence haunting the edges of the story, but there were many mysteries that only revealed themselves later on, as the writing process continued.
