Author Q&A

Author Q&A: Edward P. Jones

By Joseph Barbato, WIW Vice President

Edward P. Jones , author of the new novel, The Known World (Amistad, HarperCollins), grew up in Washington, D.C. He was raised by his mother, an illiterate maid and restaurant worker, attended Washington, D.C., public schools and earned degrees at Holy Cross College and at the University of Virginia, where he studied with James Alan McPherson, John Casey and Peter Taylor . Until last year, he earned his living as a writer for a weekly publication for tax specialists. His collection of stories, Lost in the Cit y, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1992. The Known Worl d, his first novel, is about a freed slave who owns slaves. In a Washington Post review, Jonathan Yardley called it "the best new work of American fiction to cross my desk in years." Jones, 53, now lives in Arlington, Va.

What led you to write this novel?

The idea for it probably first came to me years ago in college, when I ran across the fact that blacks owned blacks. I found that information shocking, and it stayed with me. In the 1980s, I began to think about writing this novel. I actually planned to do a lot of research. In fact, I have two bookshelves filled with about 40 books on slavery. But I did no research and little reading. I'll bet I've read no more than 150 pages from those books. When I sat down to write, I felt I knew enough about living and about the fictional setting that I wanted for the novel in antebellum Virginia.

How did the writing go?

I decided to work on the book during a five-week vacation in December 2001. I had 12 pages in hand that I had written in the mid-1990s. The rest was in my head—I'd been thinking about the book for 10 years. I tried to do five pages a day. I'd mark each day's progress on my calendar. Some days I got nothing done.

Did you work with an outline?

Those 12 pages included six pages at the beginning of the novel and six at the end. So I knew where I was going. I never wanted to sit down and wonder what would come next. I've read too many novels where things fall apart toward the end.

So you had written the book in your head and it just came out?

More or less. During my five-week vacation, I was fired in a mass layoff, so I was able to keep right on writing full time. I finished the first draft of the novel in two and a half months, as well as a couple of short stories.

What is next?

I am going on an author tour, starting here at Politics and Prose. Reviewers have been very kind, so the publisher keeps adding cities to the tour. It's up to 22 now. I am looking forward to it. I don't like to give speeches or serve on panels, but I enjoy reading and answering questions. Lost in the City has been reissued in paperback. And I have a contract for another collection of short fiction. I'll be writing more stories for it as soon as I get back.