TANIA HERSHMAN, STAR - GORE VIDAL, NO STAR

Congratulations to Tania Hershman... prizes are falling out of the sky onto this clever lady's head...fabulous writer, whose collection The White Road and Other Stories I can't wait to read.

Three competition notifications in a very few days, this week. Second at Vignette Press, Third at Momaya Press, and first at a competition she can't reveal until later in the year. This comes hot on the heels of securing two residencies in fabulous international writing retreats, won on a competitive basis.

T and I shared over a year's worth of writers' ups and downs, and she describes what it feels like to suddenly have all this good stuff landing, on her BLOG HERE:
It is lovely lovely to be able to blog about this. As it is to blog about all friends successes.

But: something to think about.


One of the last discussions on The Workhouse, one that really upset me, was when someone posted Gore Vidal's quasi-famous quote:
Every time a friend of mine succeeds a little part of me dies,
- of course loads of us went 'huh'??? We were a group who supported each other, celebrated and commiserated together. Like a family.

I am thick, badly read, have been living with my head in a hole. I hadn't heard this one before. And it did upset me. And I cant get it out of my head. It seems evil, to me.

I thought of all the writers I have worked with since late 2003, and it suddenly became clear. Writers seem to fall into two groups. Those who are delighted when their friends and colleagues succeed, and those who are not. I have experienced the ghastly, potentially very damaging behaviour of the latter, and have no intention of coping with it again, if I can help it.

(Oh sure, if two of you were going for the same comp and one succeeded, and the other didnt... there is frustration, a bit of bashing the wall...but there is also pleasure for the colleague, isn't there? Unless I am a totally naive idiot!!)

Slightly different to the treatment I had on occasion, a while back. Including this:
Anon 'helpful' emails were sent to the organisers of not one but two competitions when my name was among the winners, announcing that my entries ought to be disqualified for breaking the rules. They hadn't.

But the embarrassment was not nice!!

What I cant understand is this... how Gore Vidal can call himself a 'friend' of those whose success makes him 'die inside'. Surely, self preservation makes it likely that he would go out of his way to prevent that 'death;, and therefore try to ruin the chances of the said 'friends'.

Some friend, Mr Vidal.

So writerly reader types...I suggest that if you know any writing colleagues who look like they might be of this type... run a mile. Or ten!


Meanwhile, go and read some of Tania's work, it is fab. I just did, and it cheers me up when I'm down. She has such an original 'sparkly' 'sideways' take on life.