Corie Adjmi
Corie Adjmi grew up in New Orleans and started writing in her thirties. Her award-winning fiction and personal essays have appeared in dozens of publications including North American Review, Indiana Review, Huff Post, Medium, Motherwell and Kveller. Her first book-length publication was a collection of short stories titled Life and Other Shortcomings. The collection won a number of prizes including an International Book Award, an American fiction award and an IBPA: Benjamin Franklin Award. When she is not writing, Corie does volunteer work, cooks, bikes and hikes. She and her husband have five children and a number of grandchildren, with more on the way. She lives and works in New York City.
Twitter: @CorieAdjmi
Instagram: @CorieAdjmi
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
I love Noah Baumbach’s work. I learned a lot from his movies The Squid and the Whale and Marriage Story. Family dramas are my favorite to watch, read and write about, and his stories are often about relationships and the dynamics of family life. Plus, he has great insights. I appreciate his sense of humor and his raw candor too. I also found My Big Fat Greek Wedding helpful because I respected how Greek culture was depicted with reverence, humor and grace. I really wanted to bring those elements to my description of the Syrian Jewish community in my novel The Marriage Box.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music as you write?
I love classic rock and roll. That’s what I grew up with. The Marriage Box takes place in the 70s and 80s, and while writing the novel, I listened to music from those decades for inspiration. I include music a lot in my writing as a way to reveal setting in terms of time. It’s also useful in creating tone and mood. In addition, music evokes memories and helps me tap into my senses. The smell of beer the first time I heard Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, or the feeling in my body the first time I heard David Bowie’s Changes.
What is your favorite comic strip or graphic novel?
Persepolis I by Marjane Satrapi. It’s a graphic novel about a precocious Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. The drawings are black and white, bold and vivid. And the story is a memoir, a coming-of-age tale. I really loved this book, and enjoyed reading about that time in history and seeing it through the protagonist’s eyes and in graphic novel form.
Favorite non-reading activity?
Biking outdoors. Although I must say, I’ve fixed a couple of plot-point issues on my bike. So maybe while I’m biking, I’m actually still writing. Lately, I’ve taken to listening to Master Classes about writing while riding. Even without my pen, as I’m cooking, driving, and even in the shower, I’m thinking about stories I want to tell. I guess I’m writing all the time!!
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing?
I cook a lot. I find it meditative and creative. But also, I was an art major at NYU before I went into education. I miss drawing. I have a draft of a graphic novel for 4th graders. I just need to carve out some time to get back to work on it. I’d love to publish that story one day.
