It took me a long time after finishing the book to feel that I was done with it. I don’t feel myself cringe when someone tells me they’re reading it. That has impacted how it feels to have it in the world. I really did wait until I felt White Magic was absolutely as good as I could make it, and I had examined every sentence to see whether I would be happy for that to be part of my life for the rest of my life. That’s part of why I’m so deliberate with that intentional patience and sometimes forced patience with the process. In part, that’s because I did kind of avoid thinking about parts of the book that I might not have actually been ready to put out into the world. I have never become comfortable with that. Now that the book has gone from private to public sphere, how are you relating to it?Įlissa Washuta: It was, and still is, difficult to know that My Body Is a Book of Rules is in the world. I was thinking about how you protect the work that you’re engaged with and don’t show it to anyone. We’re speaking in early September, and it’s been a few weeks since you did that peak of interviews. Follow her Valahu: White Magic came out at the end of April, and you did a huge amount of press right after that. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at the Ohio State University. With Theresa Warburton, she is co-editor of the anthology Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. She is the author of Starvation Mode and My Body Is a Book of Rules, named a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a nonfiction writer.
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