Diane Wald
Diane Wald’s novel Gillyflower was published in April 2019 by She Writes Press, and won first place in the novella category from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, first place in the novella category from American Book Fest, first place in Fiction: Novella from International Book Awards, and a bronze medal from Reader’s Favorite. Diane has also published more than 250 poems in literary magazines since 1966. She the recipient of a two-year fellowship in poetry from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and has been awarded the Grolier Poetry Prize, The Denny Award, The Open Voice Award, and the Anne Halley Award. She also received a state grant from the Artists Foundation (Massachusetts Council on the Arts). She has published four print chapbooks (Target of Roses from Grande Ronde Press, My Hat That Was Dreaming from White Fields Press, Double Mirror from Runaway Spoon Press, and Faustinetta, Gegenschein, Trapunto from Cervena Barva Press) and won the Green Lake Chapbook Award from Owl Creek Press. An electronic chapbook (Improvisations on Titles of Works by Jean Dubuffet) appears on the Mudlark website. Her book Lucid Suitcase was published by Red Hen Press in 1999 and her second book, The Yellow Hotel, was published by Verse Press in the fall of 2002. Wonderbender, her third poetry collection, was published by 1913 Press in 2011. A poetry collection, The Warhol Pillows, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Her newest novel, My Famous Brain, published in October 2021 from She Writes Press.
Twitter: @Sleeperina
Instagram: @DianeWaldWriter
Favorite non-reading activity?
Movies, movies, movies. Since the pandemic began, my husband and I have gotten into an almost daily movie habit! We’re re-watching old favorites and discovering new ones. Last week? Highlight was The Ruling Class. This week looking forward to re-watching Nashville, with the insanely gorgeous song “My Idaho Home.” I’m longing to hear Ronee Blakely sing it again. I know all the words.
Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
I’m impatient and brutal. If it doesn’t grab me by the third chapter, I’m gone. By that time, even if you can’t get a grip on the story, you’ve had enough experience with the writing style to know whether or not it’s for you.
Is there a work of art that you love? Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
There are SO many. Of course it’s amazing to see all the classics in the big-city museums whenever you can, but I love seeking out “outsider” art or pieces that might not even be attributed to anyone. There used to be a painting in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that blew me away: a seascape with a lone figure in a top hat in the distance on the beach. I’ve since found out it has no attribution, and is still in the museum’s archives, but isn’t displayed anymore. Fortunately, when I first saw it, I bought a postcard. A haunting image.
Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
I adore nature, especially ocean destinations, but these days when I have the chance to travel to somewhere new, I like to go to cities, which I find challenging and exciting. I like to research a city and then figure out where we should go — museums, etc., but also oddball places. Baltimore is a great destination for me: the American Visionary Art Museum, the fabulous harbor and all the surrounding stores and restaurants, the Edgar Allen Poe connections, etc. Love Washington, DC too. Want to go back to Chicago someday. Oh gosh, and Paris! Honeymooned there many years ago and it was heaven.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
My “purse.” My “handbag.” My bag full of “essential” items that make me feel secure in any situation. Enormous and rain-proof and it has to be non-leather and black. Lots of compartments and pockets. “It’s not heavy; it’s my bag!”
