My conversation with author Jane Banning is as wide-ranging as her collection of poetry, prose and flash fiction, ranging from war veterans to basement pickles, and from reading the world to pickleball.
“I like contrast between between intensity and levity. So that's kind of what I tried to do [with this collection].”
Jane feels like a soul sister of mine. As a reader, she is actively trying to read more about the world and its citizens.
“I think it makes me a better person to try to get out of my own narrow perspective to find, hopefully, some common ground and common understanding among people. […] I’m trying to read things that will make a difference for me and maybe for the way that I interact with other people.”
I hope you’ll immerse yourself in Jane’s incredible collection, its descriptions of nature interspersed with the depth and richness of human life.
Bio:
Jane Banning lives in northern Wisconsin and has had over thirty of her stories, poems, and flash fiction writings published in various journals, including the Boston Literary Magazine, the University of Iowa Daily Palette, and Long Story Short, among others. She was a finalist in the Glass Woman Prize and the Micro Award. Her novel, Silo, is looking for an agent and while it's out looking, Jane goes kayaking. Asparagus Roots was published in February 2018 by Big Table Publishing and is a compilation of flash fiction, essays and poetry.
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I'm a late bloomer. Always a reader, I didn't start writing fiction until later in life.
On the other hand, with a minor in English Literature, I did plenty of writing in college, and my favorite classes even in high school were writing classes. So here I am, with over thirty publications of flash fiction, a couple of awards, some poetry, a few essays and a novel waiting for a publisher.
Born in northern Iowa, I received a Bachelor's in psychology from Iowa State University and a Master's of Science in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I've called Wisconsin home for forty years and worked in health care for thirty of those. I currently live in the north woods with my husband, two dogs, a cat and a life full of the pleasures of loons calling in the night, sun on water, pickle ball and yoga. Our son lives nearby with his sweetheart and our grand-daughter and his dogs Bella, the Great Dane, and Zander, the oddball who's afraid of rain.
Writers who influence and inspire me include Thomas Hardy, e.e. cummings, Alice Walker, Barbara Kingsolver and J.K. Rowling. These days, I read more nonfiction than ever before in an attempt to understand the world and its citizens.
I've been a member of Writers and Critters, a juried international women's writing group, for several years and have found that the critique process is at least as helpful in the creative process as the writing is.
Two teachers have profoundly influenced the development of my skills: Robert Curry and Dr. Laurel Yourke. To them, to my husband Rick and to my writing buddies, I owe much.
https://www.janebanningwriter.com/
https://www.bigtablepublishing.com/product-page/asparagus-roots
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Enjoy and thanks for listening!
Lisa Carter
Founder & Creative Director, Intralingo Inc.
USA - Interview with author Jane Banning