Céline Keating
Céline Keating is an award-winning writer from Rhode Island. She is the author of the forthcoming The Stark Beauty of Last Things (2023), Layla (2011) and Play for Me (2015). She is also the co-editor of the anthology On Montauk, A Literary Celebration (2016).
Céline’s short fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines and her short story “Home” received the first-place 2014 Hackney Award for Short Fiction. An excerpt from The Stark Beauty of Last Things received the 2021 First Place award in fiction from the Tucson Festival of Books.
Instagram: @celinekeatingauthor
Facebook: @AuthorCelineKeating/
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
I particularly love the work of Winslow Homer, and as an ocean lover, it’s obvious why his magnificent depictions of the ocean mesmerize me most. He brilliantly captures the ferocity and power and beauty of the sea. Last year I was lucky enough to see the exhibit “Crosscurrents” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of a great many of his most famous paintings. I was fascinated to learn from the exhibit that Homer also dealt with complicated themes such as race and the environment. My favorite painting was “Inside the Bar.” It shows a woman striding along the water’s edge with fishing boats just offshore in the surf. I love how the woman is almost larger than life, depicted as a heroic figure – big, strong, and as elemental as the sea.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
When I was a young child I received a gift of a tiny wooden box in the style of Chinese lacquered chests and an obsession was born. I began collecting small boxes from then on in many different materials: wood, glass, paper, straw, ceramic. I use them to keep jewelry mostly, but some have paper clips or other small objects, and some are empty. I display them on my desk, bookshelves, bureau…anywhere they please the eye.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?
I play classical guitar. I began to teach myself in my teens but could only get so far on my own. Then my husband got me the gift of lessons in midlife and I rediscovered my love of the instrument. It’s challenging and so it takes total focus, which for me is a way to quiet the mind. I practice daily and am at the advanced level, but I rarely play for anyone besides myself.
If you could create a museum exhibition, what would be the theme?
I’d do an exhibit of art made from beach detritus. I’ve seen some great examples–sculptures made from driftwood or plastics and netting, chimes from broken bottles. I love the idea of making something beautiful from garbage that also gets the message across of how we need to stop polluting our earth.
What do you worry about?
I worry a lot about the state of the world, particularly the consequences of climate change and how the natural world is being altered in response. I mourn the loss of wetlands and forests and bird and other species.
