Writers4Higher: Writers4Higher features author Kathy A. Bradley

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Writers4Higher features author Kathy A. Bradley

Welcome to Writers4Higher

This issue, Writers4Higher features

Kathy A. Bradley

Hi, Kathy. Welcome to the Writers4Higher family!

ABOUT ME, MY BOOKS, MY LIFE, MY INSPIRATION:

When I turned in the manuscript for my first book, Breathing and Walking Around, I called it creative nonfiction because that was the label Mercer University Press had given to the literary prize for which I was submitting it. Of course, I had to Google creative nonfiction first. I have since seen the term “place-based creative writing” and I think that is probably a better description of what I write.

I live on a farm. The outdoors is both classroom and church to me, the places where I take my deepest questions. Those questions are answered when my senses become engaged in some way – noticing a newly-bloomed wildflower or the way sunlight strikes a tree – and from that image a metaphor materializes. The metaphor becomes something like a decoder ring or a map key. My job as a writer, from that point, is to tell the story, to bear witness to the experience in such a way that it will enable the reader, the listener to bring that same focus to his or her thoughts.

My writing is also deeply informed by what Southerners call “my people.” The stories they have told and the language they use have trained me to the cadence and melody of Southern voices, alerted me to the layered meanings of colloquialisms, made me tender to the weightiness of words like “home” and “place”, and helped me create a voice that sounds, to me at least, true.

I anguish over every word. Every word. But it is good anguish because I love words. I really do. I’m also really particular about cadence and flow. I’ll read a sentence over five or six times to makes sure the rhythm is right. That’s probably from my early training in and love for poetry. I love using poetic devices like alliteration in my prose.

WHERE I SEE MY WRITING TAKING ME IN THE FUTURE: I want my writing to continue to take me into conversation with other people who are curious -- curious about how the natural world acts as a template for our emotional lives, curious about the paradox that it is only by diving deep within ourselves that we can explore the universe, curious about the connectedness of all things.

HOW DO I USE MY TALENTS/TIME TO HELP OTHERS: I have felt a deep responsibility for service since my elementary school Girl Scout days. As an adult I've filled a resume' coaching youth sports teams, serving on non-profit boards, and being an active member of my church. As I have become more committed to my writing, I have tried to find way to serve through my talent. I am currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Georgia Southern University Department of Writing and Linguistics and a volunteer with The Write Place, an annual celebration of authors and books that takes place in my hometown. I am a frequent speaker at civic clubs, schools, and leadership training events for women and girls.