We chat with debut author Jessica Bryant Klagmann about This Impossible Brightness, which follows a grieving woman who takes refuge on a remote island and develops unlikely connections with the community and the wild.
Hi, Jessica! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I grew up in New Hampshire, where I was always hiking, canoeing, and camping with my family. I went to a small liberal arts college for writing, then moved to Fairbanks, Alaska for graduate school. In Alaska, I lived—like many graduate students—in a 20×20 cabin without indoor plumbing. In 2010, my husband and I packed a pickup with everything we owned and drove to Santa Fe, where we found work as environmental writers. I now live in northern New Mexico with my husband, two kids, one dog, and one lizard. I’m a writer and illustrator, and a big part of my days when I’m not working is running with my dog and hiking with my family on the many trails that surround our house. I’ve always explored the natural world in my writing, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, and I feel most at home in the mountains.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve been writing stories since I was in fifth or sixth grade. I remember being teased by classmates about them, and around the same time, my mother was persistent about me submitting something to Cricket Magazine. The idea of anyone else reading my work terrified me so much that I got really shy about writing and gave it up for a long time. I went to college for visual arts and ended up taking a writing class there. That love for writing, and discussing what makes stories compelling and universal, was immediately reignited, and I changed my major to creative writing that first semester. That was when I became serious about making a job of writing.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The BFG by Roald Dahl
- The one that made you want to become an author: White Noise by Don DeLillo
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Outline by Rachel Cusk
Your debut novel, This Impossible Brightness, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Heartache and wonder, with ghosts.
What can readers expect?
A nonlinear, speculative story that spans decades and shifts points of view. The backdrop is a changing climate and there are ghosts—both real and metaphorical—involved. It’s a book that doesn’t provide a lot of answers, because it’s about dealing with big questions of death and loss and how we deal with the unknown.
Where did the inspiration for This Impossible Brightness come from?
I was inspired to write about a character who was introverted and sensitive, who was dealing with grief and wrestling with some big, unanswered questions. I also wanted to write a story about telling stories. I was inspired to include the environmental disaster as a backdrop when I decided to set the book in the North Atlantic decades into the future. I was also inspired to include the radio tower’s “echo” broadcasts after reading about a real town in New Brunswick where the residents once heard transmissions from a shortwave radio tower through the appliances in their homes. I started thinking about why radio transmissions like that might be meaningful to someone who is dwelling in memory and processing grief, and that was when things started to come together.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing Kricket’s character. For me, assuming her voice shook things up in the narrative and added new energy to the writing process. It’s also fun to write a character who is feisty and stubborn, who is very different from myself in a lot of ways. I also really enjoyed writing the flashback chapters, when Alma and Alex meet and develop a relationship. I incorporated a lot of my own childhood memories into these sections, but I was able to reflect on and exaggerate them in ways that added meaning to Alma’s story.
What do you hope readers take away from This Impossible Brightness?
I hope people finish it with the impression that listening is vital to our survival, whether that means listening to our own inner voices, the voices of others, the voices of the ghosts we carry with us, or the voice of the natural world. I also hope readers consider ways in which grief and joy can live side by side within a person.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I started sending stories and essays to literary journals in college, with only limited success until a few years after finishing my MFA. I continued to publish short stories and nonfiction for a few years before writing a novel that got me an agent but ultimately wasn’t published. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I’ve come to embrace the rejections along with the acceptances. I wrote a second novel while working with my agent, which went through a few revisions before finding Alicia Clancy at Lake Union and becoming This Impossible Brightness. It feels like a long journey—it’s been twenty years, all told—but it’s been a journey filled with so much learning and growing, so I’m grateful for it.
What’s next for you?
I’m finishing the first draft of my second novel. It’s a story set in Alaska about resilience, adaptation, and following one’s intuition. It’s about living life as if it’s a work of art and doing all things with a sense of lightness. It’s a book in which men die and return as bears, women grow antlers like caribou, haunting visions come true, and the key to immortality may be found in the most ordinary of creatures.
Lastly, are there any 2024 book releases that you’re looking forward to?
I’m really looking forward to Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World by Katie Arnold, Bear by Julia Phillips, The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez, and Parade by Rachel Cusk.
