We are excited to bring the next installment of The 14:55 Interview, a new series that takes a short, but deep dive into the writing life.
Get a glimpse into what makes your favorite creative types tick—from the writers who inspired them, to the weird habits that accompany the practice of writing, their favorite places in the world, and more. Each week, Sean Murphy, Executive Director of 1455, poses 15 questions in (less than) 15 minutes in this fast-paced and insightful series.
The Questions:
- The first book that made you want to be a writer?
(Or: what book changed your life?) - Your most profound artistic influence is?
- Album or movie you recommend without reservation?
- Best first (or last) line in any book, ever?
- Most underrated author?
- Why have you not read MOBY DICK?
(Or, which classic do you regret not reading?) - Is there a single theme or issue your work addresses?
- What’s your writing routine? (Or: do you believe in them?)
- Do you believe in writer’s block?
- Talk about the most significant setback (artistic or otherwise)
in your life? - How have you developed your career?
- Define or explain what literary success means to you.
- What do you wish you had known, as an artist, 10 or 20 years ago?
- Have you ever visited a writers retreat?
(If not, why; if so, how was your experience?) - One-minute exhortation for beginning writer looking for advice?
The Writers:
Our next three guests, and the video recordings of each interview, are below.
Blayne Weaver has starred in, written and directed the acclaimed romantic comedy 6 MONTH RULE Previous films he’s written and directed include WEATHER GIRL and OUTSIDE SALES. He also co-wrote and acted in MANIC, as well as the southern noir thriller CUT TO THE CHASE and most recently GETAWAY (which was featured in our recent collaborative event with the great Alamo Film Club). His numerous episodic television credits include ER, NCIS, and THE MIDDLEMAN. He also provided the voice of Peter Pan in the Disney animated feature RETURN TO NEVER LAND. A native of Bossier City, Louisiana, Blayne has studied acting in New York, Los Angeles, Oxford University and graduated from UCLA with a degree in English Literature. He currently runs the East Coast office of Secret Identity Pictures.
Susan Henderson is a Hawthornden International Fellow, a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and the recipient of an Academy of American Poets Award. She is the author of the novels Up from the Blue and The Flicker of Old Dreams, both published by HarperCollins. Of course, she also is featured in the new anthology ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (exclusive excerpts –including Susan’s piece ‘QUARANTINE’, are included in the hot-off-the-presses second issue of 1455’s publication MOVABLE TYPE. A lifetime member of the NAACP and the National Book Critics Circle, she lives in New York and blogs at the writer support group, LitPark.com.
Susan Rich is the author of four collections of poetry including Cloud Pharmacy, The Alchemist’s Kitchen, named a finalist for the Foreword Prize and the Washington State Book Award, and winner of the PEN USA Award for Poetry and the Peace Corps Writers Award. She’s co-editor of The Strangest of Theatres: Poets Writing Across Borders. Not least, she also is featured in the new anthology ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (exclusive excerpts –including Susan’s poem “Song at the End of the Mind”, are included in the hot-off-the-presses second issue of 1455’s publication MOVABLE TYPE. She lives in Seattle and teaches at Highline College where she runs the reading series, Highline Listens: Writers Read Their Work.
