{"id":629,"date":"2023-06-03T09:45:40","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T09:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=629"},"modified":"2023-06-03T09:45:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T09:45:40","slug":"lone-star-listens-dominic-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=629","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Listens: Dominic Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For a decade, native Australian Dominic Smith has been writing sweeping novels with a global perspective of history and art from his home in Austin, and his latest, <\/span>The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos<\/em><\/a>, has garnered acclaim from coast-to-coast in the book world. He graciously took time last week to be interviewed via email for LSLL and spoke with us about writing, coming to Texas, and real-world concerns of authors.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Dominic, I\u2019d like to begin with your journey to Texas. You were raised in Australia, but found your way to Texas after stops in Amsterdam and Iowa. Your Iowa time included being selected for the Iowa Writers\u2019 Workshop and your Texas time included being selected as a Michener Center Fellow. What surprised you about Texas when you arrived here?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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DOMINIC SMITH<\/strong>: I arrived in Austin in the summer of 2000, straight from a mild spring in Amsterdam, so the first thing that struck me about Texas was the shocking summertime heat. The second thing was the friendliness of the people. Texans, like Australians, are generally laid-back and friendly, with a healthy sense of irony. I should point out that in Iowa, I was part of the undergraduate portion of the Writer\u2019s Workshop, which is not quite the same as the prestigious graduate program. Still, it was where I first glimpsed the possibility of becoming a writer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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There is so much to admire about you as an author that I don\u2019t know where to start. I think I\u2019d like to start with your \u201creal world\u201d approach to writing. Your LinkedIn bio includes a current role at Rackspace, an open-cloud company based in San Antonio where you have just been promoted to managing editor. I\u2019ve read that you\u2019ve said you are more creative when you are economically stable. The majority of authors have to have a business career as they pursue their writing. How have you managed to have a business career and be an author at the same time?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The short and unromantic answer is that I get up early. My day usually starts around 5 a.m., and I\u2019m writing by 5:30. Since I started a family in my mid-twenties, and now have a daughter in college and one graduating from high school, I\u2019ve always had to be both a provider and a creative person. Barring my years at the Michener Center and my time at the Dobie Paisano Ranch, I have always held down a day job. Sometimes teaching, sometimes writing and editing in the tech world. Most writers have always had to make a living from other sources \u2014 I see it as a natural condition. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have flexible jobs as well. My current position allows me to work from home almost entirely.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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You burst onto the literary scene in 2006 with The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre<\/span><\/em>, a historical novel about the early days of photography. Your latest, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/em>,<\/span> is another dive into the past, this time focusing on a fictional female painter in the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century. What has drawn you to these two stories in particular?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I\u2019m fascinated by the gaps and silences in history. These are places where I can insert myself into the folds of time as a novelist, where I can invent around an established framework. With Daguerre, I followed the trail of his suspected mercury poisoning \u2014 he used mercury as the fixing agent in his daguerreotype process. With The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/em>, I became fascinated by the lost women painters of the Dutch Golden Age. About twenty-five women were admitted to painters\u2019 guilds during the seventeenth century across Holland, but we have very few surviving works. The first woman to be admitted as a painter to a Guild of St. Luke, Sara van Baalbergen, has no surviving works.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/span><\/em> is being called your breakthrough novel \u2014 especially by the Australian press. which seems very proud of its native son. For our readers not familiar with your most recent novel, will you describe it for them?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/span><\/em> follows a single seventeenth-century Dutch painting through time, tracing how it changes three different lives, in three different centuries. We follow Sara de Vos, in Golden Age Amsterdam, as she paints a haunting landscape \u2014 At the Edge of a Wood \u2014 after losing her daughter to the plague. We follow the painting into 1950s New York, where a wealthy Manhattan lawyer inherits it, then has it stolen. And finally we follow a celebrated art historian who was paid to make a copy of the painting in her twenties, as a struggling graduate student. In her sixties, at the height of career, when she\u2019s curating an exhibition on Dutch women painters of the Golden Age, both her forgery and the original landscape show up for the same exhibition. All these storylines orbit the painting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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In The Last Painting<\/span><\/em> you masterfully juggle three places and time periods throughout the novel: Amsterdam during the golden age of Dutch painting, New York City during one of its own golden ages in the 1950s and, at novel\u2019s end, Sydney, Australia at the dawn of the twenty-first century. And two of the three main characters are women. How do you overcome the challenge of writing dominant characters of a different gender?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded in my life by strong and interesting women. I have three older sisters, a wife, and two daughters who keep me on my toes. Whatever I\u2019ve learned about psychology and some of the ways women identify with being in the world, it\u2019s because of them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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When did you decide to become a writer? And what do you consider to be your first big break?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been writing in some form or another since I was about nine. But it was as an undergraduate at Iowa that I first allowed myself to admit that I really wanted to be a writer as a vocation. I view it as a lifelong apprenticeship. My break was being admitted into the Michener Center for Writers. It meant three years of supported writing time. That\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Which authors did you enjoy reading when you were growing up?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I was obsessed with Tintin comics until I got into the seventh grade, then I discovered Shakespeare and Dickens and poetry. I remember reading the Australian poet Kenneth Slessor as a teenager and being blown away.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Which authors do you enjoy reading now? Which Texas authors do you enjoy reading?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I always return to James Salter, Don DeLillo, Cormac McCarthy, Virginia Woolf, and Flannery O\u2019Connor when I need to be reminded of what writing can do at the sentence level. There are many wonderful Texas writers I enjoy reading, including Ben Fountain and Stephen Harrigan, one of my teachers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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As a teacher of writing, do you believe craft or artistry can be taught, or are they inherent?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Writing craft can be learned, but there has to be something inherent, some spark waiting to be developed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s next for Dominic Smith?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I\u2019m in the beginning stages of a new novel dealing with early cinema, which includes a strand about American cinematographers who filmed with the Germans during World War I.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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* * * * *<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Praise for Dominic Smith\u2019s The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: A Novel<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cHighly evocative of time and place, this stunning novel explores a triumvirate of fate, choice, and consequence and is worthy of comparison to Tracy Chevalier\u2019s Girl with a Pearl Earring<\/span><\/em> and Donna Tartt\u2019s The Goldfinch<\/em>.<\/span> Just as a painter may utilize thousands of fine brushstrokes, Smith slowly creates a masterly, multi-layered story that will dazzle readers of fine historical fiction.\u201d\u2014Library Journal<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cAn elegant page-turner that carries its erudition effortlessly on an energetic plot . . . His narratives may be complex, but that quality only enhances their suspense . . . Apart from the story\u2019s firm historical grounding, the narrative has a supple omniscience that glides, M\u00f6bius-like, among the centuries without a snag . . . Smith\u2019s 1637 is as convincing a realization as his 1957 or 2000, Amsterdam in its Golden Age no less vivid than millennial Manhattan . . . The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/span> may begin as a mystery about a crime, but by the end the reader sees far beneath that surface: All along it was a mystery of the heart.\u2015Kathryn Harrison, The New York Times Book Review<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cRiveting . . . . His descriptions are beautifully precise . . . . The genius of Smith\u2019s book is not just the caper plot but also the interweaving of three alternating timelines and locations to tell a wider, suspenseful story of one painting\u2019s rippling impact on three people over multiple centuries and locations . . . Smith\u2019s book absorbs you from the start.\u201d\u2014Washington Post<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cLustrous . . . . Fans of epoch-hopping fictions such as Cunningham\u2019s and David Mitchell’s will enjoy tracing understated commonalities between the various plot lines and period-specific settings, which Smith nimbly depicts . . . . Both melancholy and defiant, Smith’s novel leaves us with the sense that the truths we make are no less valuable for being inexact.\u201d\u2014Chicago Tribune<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWritten in prose so clear that we absorb its images as if by mind meld, The Last Painting<\/span><\/em> is gorgeous storytelling: wry, playful, and utterly alive, with an almost tactile awareness of the emotional contours of the human heart. Vividly detailed, acutely sensitive to stratifications of gender and class, it\u2019s fiction that keeps you up at night \u2015 first because you\u2019re barreling through the book, then because you\u2019ve slowed your pace to a crawl, savoring the suspense.\u201d\u2015Boston Globe<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cRapturous . . . . Smith\u2019s writing is incandescent from the first sentence . . . . With a virtuoso sense of place, [Smith] pulls you into very different worlds . . . In this extraordinary narrative, lives, like paintings, can be great works of art, dependent on the minutest of decisions and happenstance. So, too, can novels, and in this sublime work about longing, creativity, love and loss, Smith explores what is authentic and what is hidden, on both the canvas and in the human heart.\u201d \u2015San Francisco Chronicle<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis beautiful meditation on love, loss and art is as luminous as a Vermeer.\u201d \u2015People<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cEqual parts suspense tale and exploration of beauty and loss, this vivid novel charts the journey of one 17th-century Dutch painting as it passes through time, nations, and the lives of all who touch it.\u201d \u2015O, The Oprah Magazine<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/span><\/em> does what the best books can do: sweep the reader into unfamiliar worlds filled with intriguing characters . . . [a] true pleasure to read.\u201d \u2015Bookpage<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cAudacious . . . Absolutely transporting.\u201d \u2015Maureen Corrigan, NPR<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cArt fans and historical fiction fans, this one’s for you . . . Get ready to be blown away.\u201d  \u2015Bustle<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the company of recent art world novels such as Donna Tartt\u2019s The Goldfinch<\/span><\/em> and Peter Heller\u2019s The Painter<\/em>,<\/span> along comes Dominic Smith\u2019s The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/em>, <\/span>a sublime tale of one woman\u2019s lost art, another woman\u2019s tragic mistake, and a privileged man\u2019s link between the two . . . Smith excels at offering insight into his reserved characters\u2019 psyches through subtle details and masterfully juggles time and place, as well as the various machinations, with dexterity and a lyrical touch for description. There\u2019s a lovely, genteel beauty here. As with Vermeer\u2019s still lifes, the novel has a serene quality that belies its tension and intrigue.\u201d \u2015Dallas Morning News<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cLovely, quietly resonant . . . Smith [has a] singular gift for conjuring distant histories. In his hands, the damp cobblestones and canals of 1600s Holland and the shabby gentility of Eisenhower-era New York feel as real and tactile and tinged with magic as de Vos\u2019 indelible brushstrokes.\u201d \u2015Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c[I]n his new novel, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/em>,<\/span> Australian-American writer Dominic Smith removes the barriers between the artist, the work and the viewer in a moving exploration of the way art impacts us . . . Laced with subtle tension and emotion, The Last Painting of Sara de Vo<\/span>s<\/em> is exquisitely human, highlighting characters who are endearing even at their worst. Smith\u2019s novel illustrates why art remains a powerful force, both for those who create it and those who view it.\u201d \u2015Paste Magazine<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cA beautiful, patient, and timeless book, one that builds upon centuries and shows how the smallest choices\u2015like the chosen mix for yellow paint\u2015can be the definitive markings of an entire life.\u201d \u2015Kirkus Reviews<\/span> <\/em>(starred review)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn this wonderfully engaging novel, centered on the paintings of fictional seventeenth-century Dutch artist Sara de Vos, Smith immerses the reader in three vibrant time periods . . . . Rich in historical detail, the novel explores the immense challenges faced by women in the arts (past and present), provides a glimpse into the seedy underbelly of the art world across the centuries, and illustrates the transformative power and influence of great art. An outstanding achievement, filled with flawed and fascinating characters. \u2015Booklist<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cA mesmerizing and magically faux historical novel . . . . The Last Painting of Sara de Vos<\/span><\/em> is a splendid thing: a riveting mystery set in the rarified world of art collection about a stolen masterpiece and a gorgeous, haunting novel rooted in history, an incandescent achievement of literary imagination.\u201d \u2015Jeanette Zwart, Shelf Awareness<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cAs in Girl with a Pearl Earring<\/em>,<\/span> the technical process and ineffable aspects of creating a masterpiece enrich this novel, but Smith had to invent his masterpieces because no works survive by the real-life Sarah van Baalbergen, who was the first woman admitted to the Guild of St. Luke. Smith\u2019s paintings, like his settings, come alive through detail: the Gowanus Expressway, ruins of an old Dutch village, two women from different times and places both able to capture on canvas simultaneous beauty and sadness.\u201d \u2015Publishers Weekly<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  For a decade, native Australian Dominic Smith has been writing sweeping novels with a global perspective of history and art from his home in Austin, and his latest, The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos, has garnered acclaim from coast-to-coast in the book world. He graciously took time last week to be interviewed via […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[229,774,30,9,8],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-authorinterview","tag-dominicsmith","tag-lonestarlistens","tag-lonestarliterarylife","tag-lonestarliterarycom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}