UnCensored Ink Interview – Eric Diekhans

Hey everyone,

Ian Tan here, lead editor and project coordinator of UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology, set to release this October 29. Here is the UnCensored Ink interview series to introduce you all to the incredible writers, as well as the local bookstores and libraries that gave them safe creative spaces. Hopefully you can put these incredible places on your to-visit list, and feel inspired to support your own local bookstore, library and indie authors.

Today I am with Eric Diekhans from Illinois. His fiction has appeared in Etched Onyx and Jelly Bucket magazines, and the collection Unforgettable (Walkabout Publishing), His screenplays won the Chicago Screenwriters Network and Illinois/Chicago Screenplay competitions, and he is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Screenwriting. Diekhans received a BA in Comparative Literature from Indiana University and an MA in Film from Northwestern.

1. You’ve written a fine piece for UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology. Can you give us a synopsis? How did the idea for this piece come about?

I have two pieces in UnCensored. The Librarians is an excerpt from my novel set in post-apocalyptic America. It’s about a young woman who escapes her walled city where the citizens are kept ignorant of the outside world and joins a valiant band of librarians who spread literacy to a world on the brink of renewed violence. It was inspired by all the talk about building walls and banning books. My always speculating mind put the two ideas together.

My second piece is the short story “Cherry Bomb,” about a school library where all those pesky, controversial words contained in books have been eliminated. I was inspired to write the story while watching the Frederick Wiseman documentary Ex Libris—The New York Public Library. There’s a wonderful scene in the movie that takes place in the picture collection, which contains drawers filled with historic photos. I imagined that room was the library’s entire collection.

2. Now, we would love to know you more! What do you enjoy doing in your free time, what is your favorite book quote, and how did you get into reading and writing?

I’m an avid cyclist and belong to two bike clubs. The long miles clear my head, allowing me to come back to the page with new energy. I love travel and languages. I’m currently studying Armenian, which I became interested in after we adopted our youngest daughter from Armenia. I can’t say that I have a favorite book quote, though I keep an inspirational quote on my computer screen: “Be bold, push yourself, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.” I think that’s sound advice to a writer.

I’ve always been a voracious reader. In high school English, I would sit in the back of the class with a book in front of my face because I had already finished the assigned reading days ago. After receiving a Masters in film from Northwestern, I produced other people’s short films. I made attempts at writing, but I always found them lacking. I thought great writers were born, not made. Then a girlfriend bought a copy of The Artists Way. She had a habit of buying books and not reading them, so I picked it up. It changed my life. I realized there was a stuck writer inside me waiting to get out.

3. Do you have a favorite local library or bookstore? Also can you remember bookstores and libraries from your childhood, if they are not the same as the ones now?

I had a traumatic experience in a library as a child. I stepped into the library excited to check out books. I went to the counter and asked the librarian where I could find books on World War II. She looked at me sternly over her glasses and said, “Check the card catalog.” She inspired Mr. Gordon in The Librarians.

That said, I do love my local library in Evanston, Illinois.

4. Tell us more about this bookstore/library. What do you love most about it?

The Evanston Public Library is a lovely space with a beautiful mobile hanging above the stairway. A couple of years ago, I was taking my daughters to San Francisco and wanted to find a good guidebook. I asked the librarian behind the desk for a suggestion. She not only walked me back to the stacks and went through their collection, she shared her own extensive knowledge of The City on the Bay. She completely erased my childhood trauma.

I also love Chicago-Main Newsstand near my house. They carry a dizzying array of magazines from all over the world, a rarity today. They even carry Jelly Bucket magazine, which published one of my short stories.

5. What do you have to say on the importance of sustaining bookstores and libraries?

Bookstores and libraries are about building community. They bring people together who want to learn, explore, and meet like-minded people. They’re a haven, a refuge. Bookstores can’t compete with Amazon on price, but you can’t wander the stacks of Amazon, pulling books off the shelf, and you can’t hold an author reading or talk to a nice librarian.

6. Do you have any projects that your current and future readers can look forward to?

I’m currently seeking a publisher for The Librarians and I’m working on a new novel about an estranged mother and daughter set during the Great Recession. I’m also finishing up my next short story.

7. Lastly, what platforms can we find you? (Social media and websites are all encouraged, this is to highlight and champion you guys)

www.ericdiekhans.com

Twitter: @EricDiekhans

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089587210279