The Art of Being a Grandmother: An Incomplete Diary of Becoming
What does it truly mean to be a grandparent—to care for and nurture young life as you look back on your own, and experience the world afresh through their eyes? The Art of Being a Grandmother: An Incomplete Diary of Becoming is an honest and heartfelt exploration of self—as a mother, grandmother, visual artist and writer. Following her acclaimed autobiographical play, Still Life (2019) with Checkpoint Theatre, Dana Lam invites you into her world as she chronicles the process of becoming a grandparent through her art and writings. The careful interweaving of candid, meditative journal entries with stunning watercolour and ink renderings of scenes of her daily life deftly captures the unique pleasures and challenges of grandparenthood. Poignant, tender, and funny all at once, this volume will delight readers of all ages with its warmth and wonder.
Excerpt
Checkpoint Theatre, 2022
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Lam
Dana is a visual artist and writer, and an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre. In 2019, she performed her play Still Life, which she developed with Huzir Sulaiman and Claire Wong of Checkpoint Theatre over three years. It included a year of making sculptures, sketches and painting in her studio. Outside of performance, Dana has worked as a newspaper reporter and volunteered with AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research), serving as President from 2000-2002 and again, from 2009-2011.
Short Notes with Dana Lam
What does "Mata Hati | 心眼 | Eye of the Heart | மனக்கண் வழியே" mean to you in writing?
It means writing what the heart knows. Writing as honestly and as close to the truth as one dares.
What does your writing process look like? Do you type or write? Are there multiple drafts, long pauses, or sudden bursts of activity?
All of the above.
What is writing if not a form of drawing? Sometimes I start with writing and let the imagery arise. Sometimes I start with a drawing and let the text arise. I also like to throw a spanner in the works. When something starts to feel practiced, I tend to want to disrupt it. Sometimes the urge to tell the story a certain way is so strong; I inevitably go back to it. Sometimes I lose something good but I find something else. Not good, necessarily. Not better nor worse. I take these moments of loss and finding as a way of keeping with being.
What does your working space look like?
Messy. I wish it wasn’t.
Make an elevator pitch for your shortlisted work in 30 words or less.
What’s it like being a grandmother? Everyone wants to know. Writer/Visual Artist Dana Lam tells it like no other. Warts and all. And you don’t have to be a grandmother to appreciate it.
Could you share a pivotal moment as you were writing this work?
I have to say it was when Huzir Sulaiman (Artistic Director, Checkpoint Theatre and the editor of the book) put it to me that I could make something out of what I saw at the time as just a whole lot of random notes and sketches. Huzir saw the book before I saw it. I am forever indebted.
If you could give one advice to yourself when you were writing this book, what would it be?
Don’t worry, be happy.
