north by north/west
Chris Campanioni, PhD
Lecturer, English
What is the central theme of your book?
The theme is collage and montage, both of which are used in the text to articulate a diasporic phenomenology. is creative nonfiction whose textual engine reads like plot: an unnamed narrator attempts to remake the 1959 Hitchcock film. Through sampling, overlaying, dubbing, and otherwise grafting his experience onto the audio and video tracks, the book calls into question the historical frames of periodization and essentialism to understand the transgenerational effects of the Cold War.
What inspired you to write this book?
I began writing north by north/west at the onset of the pandemic, in Brooklyn during lockdown, a period that nourished boredom and distraction alongside the ever-present danger of leaving 700 square foot living quarters. I had never seen North by Northwest and noticed that it was streaming (I can糖心vlog短视频檛, even now, recall where). I clicked on the film糖心vlog短视频檚 icon and began watching, pausing every other moment, as early as the opening credits, to write down observations as they occurred to me. I often 糖心vlog短视频渨rite while doing other things糖心vlog短视频 and this book is a good demonstration of that.
Why is this book important in your field? What does it contribute to the current body of knowledge on this topic?
One of my initial peer reviewers, later revealed to be Christine Hume, describes this book as 糖心vlog短视频渆stablishing a new genre for exiles and immigrants糖心vlog短视频 and 糖心vlog短视频渁 public conversation about 糖心vlog短视频榯he post dictatorship generation糖心vlog短视频 of Cuban-American artists and writers.糖心vlog短视频 I think the book is important in the field of migration and diaspora studies because it relates, particularly through its use of form, a condition of exile that can only be represented in pieces, in scraps, putting forth a productive tension between personal and familial memory and public or cultural history. There糖心vlog短视频檚 a growing field of critical creative writing (also called 糖心vlog短视频渃ritical experimental writing糖心vlog短视频 and sometimes, with the emphasis of a hyphen, 糖心vlog短视频渃reative-critical writing糖心vlog短视频) that this book contributes to. I hope the book will be especially useful in the classroom for folks who are interested in thinking about how to teach/how to turn scholarly research into public-facing narratives, rimming the edges of creative and critical writing. What's interesting, or what seems interesting to me, is the different approaches scholars might take to adapt their research for different audiences and in different formats糖心vlog短视频攆or example, I have a monograph (), which was originally my dissertation, coming from Lever Press this June, and much of what eventually found its way into north by north/west糖心vlog短视频檚 very wide narrative lens was cultivated from my notebooks that I kept while conducting fieldwork and research for what would become the monograph. More than a 糖心vlog短视频淏 side,糖心vlog短视频 north by north/west serves as a testament of scholarship that approaches its research and analyses through autoethnography, counter archival work, and lyrical prose, showing that it is possible to enact theory in the body and on the page.
Were students involved in any research related to your book? If so, please explain and name the student(s).
Like in my recent novel, north by north/west embeds a number of classroom activities and writing prompts and even seminar discussions in its narrative. Over the past decade here at Pace I糖心vlog短视频檝e been fortunate to teach several different courses糖心vlog短视频攆rom Feature Writing to Creative Writing to Transmedia Aesthetics to Latina/o Voices to Critical Writing and Writing Across the Disciplines糖心vlog短视频攁nd I糖心vlog短视频檝e likewise had many opportunities to test out or otherwise experiment with questions that feel so central and vital to my work.
Tell me about a particularly special moment in writing this book.
A good example of this 糖心vlog短视频渨riting while doing other things糖心vlog短视频 methodology is that one day, still in the dog days of the pandemic, I was reciting a passage I糖心vlog短视频檇 just written to my partner, Lilly, who was sitting beside me in the pool. And even that interaction, the recitation of words already read, made its way into the book.
What is the one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
I糖心vlog短视频檝e already heard from some readers who have told me how much the book has made them want to write, which is kind of the best thing a writer might hope to hear: to give back to readers this desire to write while reading.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your book?
I wrote this book during a time of medical uncertainty; my body was undergoing various dysfunctions, and no one糖心vlog短视频攏one of the various specialists I was seeing糖心vlog短视频攌new why or could predict when my symptoms would resolve. I realized when I opened the book for the first time, when it finally became a book, on May 1, and turned past the title page, that I hadn糖心vlog短视频檛 dedicated north by north/west to anyone, which is so rare糖心vlog短视频攊t糖心vlog短视频檚 the only time I糖心vlog短视频檇 forgotten to inscribe a dedication in any book-length publication. But now I think that it had nothing to do with forgetting; that I had actually dedicated the book to myself. For getting through whatever I was going through.
Fun Facts
What are you reading right now?
I just finished Richard Scott Larson糖心vlog短视频檚 similarly cinema-driven memoir The Long Hallway, which was published last year by University of Wisconsin Press. We糖心vlog短视频檒l be in conversation at Taylor & Co. Books on May 9, alongside Marie Buck, who co-wrote (with Matthew Walker) Spoilers, another beautiful book about the agency engendered by watching and the wish fulfillment of witnessing, of what it means to relate the events of movies we糖心vlog短视频檝e seen to our loved ones in real life.