Gabriela Mistral & Other Chilean Writers

Let's check in with Jeanette Winterson's novel.

Jeanette Winterson is a contemporary novelist. She is a lesbian writer who dabbles in science fiction, literary and poetic prose. She was born in Manchester, England, and adopted by Pentecostal parents who brought her up in the nearby mill-town. She attended Oxford, and currently writes for various UK newspapers (she is a journalist, as well as a literary novelist and poet).

5 Minutes with Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson talks about her favorite books
Author interview with Jeanette Winterson

“I can't believe that we have reached the end of everything. The red dust is frightening. The carbon dioxide is real. Water is expensive. Biotech has created as many problems as it has fixed, but we're here, we're alive, we're the human race, we have survived wars and terrorism and scarcity and global famine, and we have made it back from the brink, not once but many times. History is not a suicide note - it's a record of our survival.”

― Jeanette Winterson, The Stone Gods

For further discussion:

• The novel opens with the section "Planet Blue", introducing Billie Crusoe. The strange surname is an allusion to the character Robinson Crusoe--a novel (and character) by Daniel Defoe, about a man stranded on a deserted island. He has to survive and gets help from his indigenous companion whom he names Friday.
• Discuss the following characters and their roles in part 1: [protagonist/antagonist/confidante/mentor/foil/dynamic (round)/static (flat)/stereotype/archetype/allegorical/minor, etc.]
• Billie Crusoe
• Manfred
• Spike
• Mary McMurphy (aka Pink)
• Captain Handsome
• At its core this book is about how we have created our own messed-up world. Themes of environmentalism abound. What if we could find another planet to colonize? Would we fall into the same problems? Here's some food for thought: GJ1132b 
• Examine the "sailor" stories on page 50-52. Create a "sea" story like one of these for your own planet.
• Fixing allows a person to stop aging. While this seems like it's science fiction, currently scientists are working on gene therapy and an anti-aging process to reverse aging.
• Having a robotic lover seems strange, perhaps, but look at this... Sophia.
• What if...? All speculative fiction starts with a "what if...?" Make a list of your own "what if's" for stories of your own.
• "She is all States, all Princes I, Nothing Else Is" this repeated line throughout the novel is an allusion to the linked poem: The Sun Rising by John Donne.

Now, back to our Chilean writers. Let's look at Gabriela Mistral today. Before Neruda and Parra, there was Gabriela Mistral. Let's learn about her here: Gabriela Mistral documentary (11 min.) and then read some of her poems. We will stop occasionally for some writing prompts.

HOMEWORK: Please read Part 3 of The Stone Gods: Post 3 War. Bring back your books and the Chilean writers packet to our next class. You should also have read part 2: Easter Island--we'll discuss that next class.