Last Thursday, March 4th, Language Arts Live, organized by Assistant Professor of English Eden Osucha, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Jonathan Skinner, and Senior Lecturer of English Robert Farnsworth, presented novelist James Hannaham, author of the recent novel “God Says No.” The novel, introduced by Osucha as “gently firm, quietly fierce,” focuses on a young man’s innocent love with his first girlfriend and his struggle to reconcile religious condemnation of both premarital sex and his affection for other men.
Hannaham began in a comical tone, dedicating the reading to Republican California State Senator Roy Ashburn, who voted against gay marriage the same night he was seen exiting a gay bar in Sacramento. With a deep voice resounding throughout the room and humorous interjections between excerpts, Hannaham instantly allied himself with listeners as a richly personable, comfortable speaker. He devoted the hour to reading excerpts from his novel, diving into the cautious, naïve, blooming love between the protagonist, Gary, and his girlfriend, a devout Christian. Scenes of delicate adolescent affection were interwoven with humorous analogies. Hannaham’s text was relatable, addressing grave issues with a lighthearted edge.
Characterizing Gary as “a fat closet case from South Carolina,” Hannaham spoke to the conflict between personal identity and rigid religious confinements. Gary struggles between a fervent desire to be “saved” and recapture his connection with the Lord, while at the same time realizing that his attention during church service is monopolized by a man on the altar he finds exquisitely beautiful and intriguing.
Hannaham’s succinct, fast-moving narrative and colloquial dialogue, in addition to a humorous spark, generated a hushed calm throughout the audience that begged for him to continue reading. Aside from the occasional laugh in reaction to his wit, there was no shifting, rustling or coughing during the hour; Hannaham was purely captivating.
Following the reading, Hannaham addressed the art of writing fiction, and said that to produce a good piece one must develop a “healthy disdain for one’s own work,” and learn to become comfortable “cutting” out the writing when pieces are not working. He also expressed a preference for writing fiction over non-fiction because it allows him to explore the world as it comes to him, through the eyes of his protagonist, and to write in a more honest and real voice. Hannaham’s novel, as well as his reading, provided insight into the universal struggles that exist in defining one’s personal identity within social and religious confines, and were received with much sincrerity.
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