Sarah Shun-lien Bynum '92 was named a National Book Award Finalist for her novel "Madeleine is Sleeping," an imaginative tale she describes as "a part coming-of-age story and part fairy tale."
But perhaps an equally magical tale is the chronicle of the story's 10-year sculpting process, which began during Bynam's senior year at Brown.
"I was taking a class by Bob Arellaro - a hypertext class. The very opening of the book was actually composed in hypertext," Bynam said.
"I worked on it as my senior thesis. If you go to the library you will find the early pages of the book," she added.
Each year the National Book Foundation selects five writers in four different categories as National Book Award Finalists, to recognize exemplary achievement in writing. Of these finalists, one is named the award winner. This year the National Book Award recipient for fiction was Lily Tuck for "News from Paraguay."
Bynum herself has been published in several publications, including the Georgia Review, TriQuarterly, Alaska Quarterly Review and Best American Short Stories of 2004. "Madeleine is Sleeping" is her first novel.
After graduating from Brown, Bynum began teaching seventh and eighth-grade students in Brooklyn, N.Y. "I took the job thinking that I would have oodles of time to write," she said. "I had no idea going in what an intense experience teaching is."
Though heavily involved in her teaching, Bynum did take one night class at Columbia University under the instruction of Michael Cunningham. It was Cunningham who suggested that Bynum pursue creative writing at graduate school.
Bynum chose the University of Iowa, a school that has a reputation very different from Brown's.
"At first I had somewhat mixed feelings about going to Iowa. The creative writing program at Brown is so innovative and interested in new approaches to narrative. The unspoken understanding among students at Brown was that Iowa was a cookie-cutter place, churning out boring short-story writers."
Ultimately, however, Bynum's experiences at Iowa varied significantly from these perceptions.
"I still found a lot of different students and teachers who were interested in different approaches to short stories," she said.
Bynum returned to New York City after completing her MFA and started working as a consultant for a non-profit organization, a job that allowed her the time to "work on the novel and eventually bring it to completion."
"Madeleine is Sleeping" was published in September by Harcourt Incorporated, which ultimately submitted her novel for review by the National Book Foundation. "I had no idea that Harcourt even submitted my book for this award," she said.
Bynum described the initial surprise of being notified of her award nomination. "I was called at my day job, a very unglamorous setting. It was complete incredulity. I mean utter incredulity. I was confused and then I was sort of disbelieving and then I got increasingly excited," she said.
Bynum's nomination came amidst controversy that the National Book Foundation's selection criteria were flawed, particularly because all five fiction finalists were unknown female authors from the New York City area.
"People felt we were obscure," Bynum said. "Suddenly I appeared in the New York Times on a frequent basis. My book didn't even get reviewed by the New York Times."
At the recent awards banquet where the fiction award winner was announced, Rick Moody, the chair of the selection committee, described the judging process, addressing the criticism that had surrounded it.
"He said basically there were all different types of writers. They were looking for language and imagination - those were the two vital things that constituted excellence," Bynum said. "It was such a relief to hear all of this negativity responded to."
Though Bynum has received considerable recognition for her novel, she is still a consultant, citing the recognition as reaffirmation to keep writing.
"It's a very lasting vote of confidence," she said. "Especially because I admire the judges and deeply admire the other books whose company I was in. It gives me hope and courage to keep going," she said.
Bynum provided some advice for aspiring writers at Brown: "At Brown I was constantly surrounded by so much stimulation - an incredible sense of intellectual agitation. Venture into territory that seems more frightening or unknown. That can lead to a lot of inspiration."
