Art and Writing

This semester I am taking a graduate course on authorship with Dr. Sarah Robbins. In that course, we look at different aspects of writing and authorship as they are portrayed in literature. Because of my interest in children's literature, I have been examining authors, writers, and authorship in children's literature. The descriptions of art and artistry in A Single Shard remind me of some of the descriptions of authorship I have read in other texts and experiences I have had with my own writing. I want to look at some of these passages and examine what Park might be saying about creating a literary piece as she discusses the creation of ceramic works of art.

At the end of the novel, Tree-ear looks ahead to his career as a potter with both delight and anxiety. Park writes, "He could almost feel the clay under his hands, rising on the wheel--his own wheel!--into a shape that was grace itself" (147). Reading this, I was especially struck by that description of the the clay "rising" on the wheel. Throwing pots is fluid work. The clay bends and folds with the slight touch of a hand, almost moving by itself. Sometimes this is how writing can be. Sometimes, either through inspiration, genius, or profound research, writing can be fluid, almost easy, and exciting. In an interview I found with Park, she mentions the inspiration she found through researching Korean history. That research led eventually to her writing A Single Shard. I can imagine the satisfaction of finding inspiration, and then seeing that inspiration take form into something graceful and powerful, such as this novel.

Writing is also deeply frustrating and intimidating. Tree-ear expresses a sense of intimidation and anxiety just a few paragraphs after he looks forward with joy to having control of his own wheel. Park writes, "How long would it be before he had skill enough to create a design worthy of such a vase? One hill, one valley... One day at a time, he would journey through the years until he came upon the perfect design" (148). In the same interview mentioned previously, Park also talks about her struggles with writing this novel. The same history that inspired her also caused her difficulties as she could not, for a time, find information about the land Tree-ear must cover to deliver his vases. Eventually she found a book about one man's journey across Korea. That man just happened to travel on the exact route Tree-ear needed to go on. Writing a novel is a day by day journey. We, as students, know that sometimes (or often; always?) writing is a sentence by sentence journey. Tree-ear listens to the wisdom of Crane-man in taking everything a step at a time and not becoming overwhelmed by the unknown. Park, like all authors, had to allow her work to grow on her "wheel," to have fluidity, in order to become a graceful work.

I think looking at and thinking about Park's authorship is important because of the value it places on her and her work. My studies of children's literature and authorship has shown me how often children's literature is not valued, or is not valued as highly as "adult" literature. Park examines aspects of art in her novel, and through this examination reveals some of her own artistry/authorship as well.

Works Cited:
Johnson, Nancy J. "Interview with the 2002 Newbery Medal Winner, Linda Sue Park." Reading Teacher 56.4 (2003): 394-9.

Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. New York: Yearling, 2001.