Ruby Todd Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Interview

In an exclusive interview with Talia Tyndall for The Strand Magazine, the author discusses her book, Bright Objects.

The Strand Magazine: You have taught at the university level for many years and with private clients, covering many facets of literature and creativity. How has teaching shaped your writing? What have you gained as a teacher that influences your work?

Ruby Todd: Teaching has made me even more conscious of my craft—focusing on concrete details, description, visuality, voice, and ekphrasis—because I return to these elements when teaching, just as I do in my writing. Recently, I've been working more with individual students, and one thing they've taught me is that I'm often the last to know which aspects of my experience and approach to writing and reading will be the most valuable to them.

For example, one student and I are currently working on reading aloud from the openings of classic novels, then dissecting complex multi-clause sentences for her to emulate as a stylistic challenge. This was not what we initially set out to do, but it emerged naturally as we explored what exercises would best suit her goals.

Teaching has been deeply rewarding, especially sharing my love of writing and reading. However, since my teaching draws from the same energy source as my writing, I've had to learn how to balance the two. I ...