The Best Literature is Far More Than Any Journalism

Guest blogger, Naseem Rakha

“The best literature is far more than any journalism.” -William Faulkner

At a few minutes after midnight on September 9th, 1996, I was standing on the grounds of the Oregon State Penitentiary recording a group of revelers celebrate the execution of condemned killer Douglas Write. He was the first man to die by lethal injection in Oregon, and his execution was the first to be held in the state in more than thirty years. I was a reporter for public radio, and my assignment was to tell the story of that execution for NPR the following morning. But as I stood there, the orange lights of the prison reflecting on the low lying Pacific clouds, I knew whatever story I told the following day would be a paltry representation of what actually occurred that night, and all the preceding nights that led to Write’s execution. And I told myself that one day I would tell the fuller story.

Nine years and much research later, I began to write my first novel, The Crying Tree.

Fiction, I decided, would accomplish what I could not on that cloudy night in September: create a world for my audience to step into, experience, and feel. It could pose the deep philosophical, moral, spiritual, and social questions that come from crime and punishment. It could give people characters to hold onto, eyes to see through, points of view to wrestle with, and conclusions to debate, or live with, or cry about. It could feed the soul.

So I struck out, forging my way into a medium I knew little about, learning as I went: Going to classes, finding critique groups, doing the research, the interviews, and the constant observation, writing, and revision needed to create a story that feels both real and alive.

To be a writer, I learned, is to tap into the gift of experience and voice – yours, others – blending them into a painting that gives people new ways to see, think, and feel. For me, this comes best by observing my world with a painstaking attention to detail, and listening attentively for the stories we all hold and the potential they all provide.

Back in 1996, I did not know that when I was recording a group of rowdy drunks partying at the gates of an execution, they would later play a role in a novel I would one day author. But I made note of their celebration, and its effect on me. And then, at the appropriate time, it appeared in a scene in The Crying Tree, and appears here now in this essay as I consider how important it is to reach into the moments we have and glean what we can.

Naseem Rakha is an award-winning author and journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, Christian Science Monitor, and Living on Earth. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and many animals. When Naseem isn’t writing, she’s reading, knitting, hiking, gardening, or just watching the seasons roll in and out. www.naseemrakha.com

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