Jed Ayres Interviews Daniel Woodrell

Jed Ayres cornered Daniel Woodrell and made him spill the beans over at Ransom Notes. Head on over there for the full interview.

Jed Ayres: Does it bother you any that the "country noir" a label that stuck to you for better or worse and which has been popularized largely through you, is being taken up by young writers, perhaps untested, whose point of view is perhaps un-earned?

Daniel Woodrell: Country noir was not a term I expected to survive long and become attached to me forever. There is no point in my wishing it was gone, since it won't be anytime soon. Younger writers should grab onto anything that gives them a foundation, or sense of what they are trying to do, and if the term is congenial to them, have at it. The worrying aspect of said label is that you may feel that whatever you write needs to fit the term, and thereby limit your own investigation of other things that interest you in order to continue being the writer that the label says you are. Remember that with any luck, life is long, and you might want to change your hat someday, and perhaps on many days.

Woodrell's The Bayou Trilogy comes out two days from now from Mulholland Books. (Pulp Serenade Review here)