Johnson County writers penned some of the state’s most evocative and inspiring works of the year.
A curved scar belies a terrible secret that refuses to stay buried in Saundra Mitchell’s thriller “All the Things We Do in the Dark.” Poet Callista Buchen ruminates on becoming a mother and all that comes with that.
Each work was an accomplishment in creativity. Now the two writers have been recognized for the imagination and skill.
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Buchen and Mitchell have been named to the shortlist for the Indiana Author Award, the state’s most prestigious literary honor. They were among 37 writers eligible for top honors in seven literary categories.
Shortlisted books were written by lifelong Hoosiers, professors at Indiana colleges and universities, former residents and others with a deep connection to the state, according to Indiana Humanities, the nonprofit that created the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards.
“In putting together these shortlists, our judges have created a collection of books that show the world that Indiana’s literary scene is vibrant, varied and exciting,” said Keira Amstutz, Indiana Humanities president and CEO.
The categories include: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s literature, young adult literature, drama, genre and emerging.
Winners will be announced on Sept. 1 via a Facebook Live Premiere Event. Each category winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize, a hand-crafted limestone award and the opportunity to make a $500 donation to an Indiana library of their choice.
“These writers and many, many others add to the storied literary heritage of not only Indiana, but the Midwest,” Amstutz said. “These awards will help make sure Hoosiers and the rest of the nation are aware of these talented authors and of our state’s literary prowess.”
State of motherhood
Buchen’s collection of prose poetry, “Look Look Look,” was released in 2019. In the book, the Franklin College professor examined motherhood and her own experiences with it, focuses on the early days of parenthood and the types of challenges new parents face.
She started writing drafts of the poems eight years ago, when she was pregnant with her first child, in a way to challenge her own personal experience and the experiences of other mothers share, particularly with a lack of visibility as people.
“What I was interested in was this idea of ‘seeing,’” Buchen said. “What would it mean to really see mothers, to really see myself and to feel seen during this time? I liked the idea that the book would ask readers for their attention.”
“Look Look Look” is Buchen’s first published collection of poetry. She has previously published “Double-Mouthed” and “The Bloody Planet” as chapbooks, or small paperback booklets. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Harpur Palate, Puerto del Sol and Fourteen Hills.
In May 2019, her poem “Taking Care” was nominated to be included in the prestigious Orison Anthology.
In addition to teaching creative writing at Franklin College, she advises Apogee, the student-led literary journal, and had directed the school’s visiting writers reading series.
“Look Look Look” was one of six books to be nominated in the poetry collection.
“I’m honored by this recognition, and thrilled to be named to the shortlist among so many Hoosier writers I admire. I’m grateful to the Indiana Author Awards and Indiana Humanities, and to live in a place that enthusiastically celebrates and nurtures its writers,” Buchen said. “Especially now, writers and artists can help us better understand ourselves and the world we live in, and this list helps highlight and encourage the writers doing this important work.”
Supernatural suspense
The plan had been to read through every book in the library. When Mitchell was young, she loved her local library. She came up with a plan to start with books at the beginning of the Dewey Decimal System, and read every one until the end.
She didn’t make it far — when she reached the section about paranormal investigators, monsters, ghosts and the supernatural.
“I was completely drawn into that kind of stuff. That love really stuck,” she said.
Mitchell has built a career on writing works of horror of young adult audiences. The Greenwood resident’s most recent novel, “All the Things We Do In the Dark,” tells the story of Ava and the secrets that she uncovers.
“It turned out to the scariest of them all. There’s that supernatural element, where the lead character thinks that she’s seeing the ghost of a girl who’s body she found murdered in the woods,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell wrote when she was growing up, but it wasn’t until she finished her service with the U.S. Army and had settled into a routine as a housewife that she started earnestly started writing.
She was hired to write screenplays for Fresh Films, one of the largest teen filmmaking programs in the country. During her 20 years with the company, she earned Academy Award eligibility 10 times.
But after years of working on scripts, Mitchell wanted to try writing something different.
“Film is a very collaborative process. I’d write a script, and then it would go to the kids, it would get changed and come back,” she said. “I thought about how much I’d really love to write something that was just mine.”
Mitchell wrote her first novel, which she admits was not great and was roundly rejected by literary agents. Not to be discouraged, she wrote another one, “Shadowed Summer.” The book had a much different trajectory, and became Mitchell’s first published novel.
Since then, she’s written a little bit of everything, including nonfiction and short fiction. “All the Things We Do In the Dark” is one of two young adult novels chosen for the Indiana Author Award.
“I was genuinely stunned. After reading the email, I went through it, but then went back to work, because I could not fathom that was the case,” she said.
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Indiana Author Awards nominees from Johnson County:
Brian Allen Carr
Title: "Opioid, Indiana"
Genre: Fiction
Where to get it: Wild Geese Bookstore in Franklin
Saundra Mitchell
Title: "All the Things We Do in the Dark"
Genre: Young adult fiction
Where to get it: saundramitchell.com
Callista Buchen
Title: "Look Look Look"
Genre: Poetry
Where to get it: callistabuchen.com; blacklawrencepress.com/books/look-look-look
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