Comstock author delivers unique keynote at writer’s conference

The song “Never Been to Spain” came to mind as I talked with author Bonnie Jo Campbell about her writing career and upcoming keynote speech at A Rally of Writers on Saturday (April 15). She was packing up belongings at her home in rural Comstock for an author event in Barcelona.  

“Nobody knows me here, but all five of my books are wildly popular in Spain,” she said. 

That’s not exactly true, but it has been nearly 12 years since she published her last novel, “Once Upon a River,” about a 16-year-old runaway who takes to the river in search of her mother. The protagonist, Margo, is a self-sufficient, gun-toting, Annie Oakley-type character who defies all odds. The book was made into a movie in 2019.  

Campbell became known for her Michigan-themed post-industrial noir style of writing in 2009, when she published “American Salvage,” a collection of short stories, to critical acclaim. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. 

With Campbell’s success and clear penchant for writing, the audience at Saturday’s event might be surprised at the topic of her keynote. 

“I’m going to tell the participants why they shouldn’t write a novel,” she said. “It’s only somewhat tongue in cheek. Writing a novel takes a big chunk of your life, and you have to spend all of your time in service to writing the novel.” 

Michigan State University Press will also release a new book about Campbell’s work at the event, titled “Michigan Salvage: The Fiction of Bonnie Jo Campbell.” The book is a collection of scholarly essays on Campbell’s work, examining everything from class and gender to poverty and addiction. It’s meant to be used by teachers and contains lesson plans and writing prompts for students to follow.

“The rally is a big deal for Lansing, and everyone leaves so fired up,” Campbell said.

She said her next book, which is set to release Oct. 6, is “very Michigan, intertwined with Americana.” 

“It’s about a family of independent swamp women who make their own trouble, and men with guns who make trouble for them,” she said. “It takes place in a pre-cell phone world and has a large dollop of guns and rattlesnakes, particularly the Michigan massasauga rattler. And, of course, there’s a preacher involved. It’s an epic book compared to my usual style.”