Dallas Woodburn

Dallas Woodburn is the author of the short story collection Woman, Running Late, in a Dress and the novel The Best Week That Never Happened. A former John Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing and a current SF Writers Grotto Fellow, her work has been honored with the Cypress & Pine Short Fiction Award, the international Glass Woman Prize, second place in the American Fiction Prize, and four Pushcart Prize nominations. She is also the host of the popular book-lovers podcast "Overflowing Bookshelves" and founder of the organization Write On! Books that empowers youth through reading and writing endeavors. Dallas lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her amazing husband and adorable daughter.

Twitter: @DallasWoodburn

Instagram: @DallasWoodburnAuthor 

Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?

Yes, I love to listen to music while I write. I actually make a new playlist for each big project I undertake—the music helps set the mood/tone I am hoping to evoke with my writing, and I have found it really enables me to sink into the world of the story. (You can listen to the playlist I used while writing my novel The Best Week That Never Happened here on Spotify.) I particularly love quiet, folksy, acoustic guitar, singer-songwriter tunes. While writing, I am able to listen to music with words—for me usually the words fall away after the first song or two. It’s almost like I don’t even consciously hear the music anymore. Listening to the same playlist every time I sit down to write is a powerful transition for me from the minutiae of daily life into the expansive realm of creativity.
 
Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?

My go-to comfort food is definitely sweet—but not too sweet! I love to bake and especially enjoy making delicious treats that are also relatively healthy, like swapping out coconut sugar or dates for cane sugar. My favorite recipe is probably these maple-sweetened banana muffins. I have it memorized because I make it nearly every week! In addition, I am a dark chocolate fiend and nearly always have a couple squares by my computer as I write, along with a hot mug of green tea. Food does inspire my writing—my debut novel, The Best Week That Never Happened, is set on the Big Island of Hawaii, and it was fun to weave in many of my favorite foods from Hawaii into the narrative, such as shave ice and malasadas.

Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?

Vincent van Gogh is one of my favorite artists—the color and energy of his work has inspired me ever since I can remember. Sunflowers are my favorite flower, and when I was little, my parents bought me a print of one of his sunflower paintings to hang in my room. My very favorite of all his paintings is The Starry Night, which I was fortunate enough to see in person at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I could have stood for hours in front of it! In person, the painting seemed to have this magnetic force, drawing people in. The stars were alive. I could see the texture of his brushstrokes. Tears sprang to my eyes at the painting’s quiet, thrumming beauty. Creatively, Van Gogh reminds me to take risks and leaps with my own work, and to try my best not to worry about critics and negative reviews and rejection. It seems impossible that he was not considered a successful artist during his lifetime! His work reminds me to find my own success in the journey of creating.

If you could create a museum exhibition, what would be the theme?

I would create an exhibit asking the question, What was the best week of your life and why? The exhibit would showcase artwork, photography, poetry, and visual media from people illustrating the best week of their lives. I believe that reflecting on this idea of a “best week” can give valuable perspective on what is truly most important to us.

I have actually created a website called The Best Week Project compiling these best week stories, where people from around the world can submit their own stories and images about their best week. Asking people this question has yielded some fascinating and wonderful stories and insights about our lives, and life in general. Many people reminisce about taking a trip, a momentous milestone, or a big relationship. Others reflect on the beautifully ordinary moments that make up a life.

What brings you great joy?

My daughter Maya brings me great joy every single day. As I write this, she is sixteen months old, and has just recently learned to walk—in the span of a few weeks she has gone from shaky, tentative first steps to, now, racing down the hall and around the house faster than I can keep up! I am fortunate to get to stay home with her (even before the current pandemic and quarantine has made staying at home routine for everyone) so I have been right there with her through the minutes and hours of her days, with a front-row seat to witness her miraculous growth and evolution from a tiny sleepy newborn to this vibrant, energetic, opinionated toddler. She is so observant and curious, and makes me laugh with her giggles and antics. Parenthood can definitely be exhausting and trying, and has certainly stretched me out of my comfort zone and spurred my own growth as a human being—but I try to recognize and savor the joyful moments of my daily life as a mom, too.