Gladys Swan is a Columbia, MO author whose latest book is “Ceremony of Innocence.” The fictional book follows an American woman named Florrie as she faces many tribulations while living abroad in Copenhagen, Venice and Prague during the late 1980s. Swan is both a writer and a visual artist who has a background teaching literature and creative writing at many colleges, including Mizzou. She has published several novels and short story collections over the years including the Carnival Quintet series and a New Mexico trilogy. She currently has an art exhibit up at the Missouri River Regional Library until June 30, 2022. Gladys was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email.
Daniel Boone Regional Library: From what I can tell, you’ve been working on parts of this book for nearly 30 years. Why did you decide to release it now? Did the book change a lot over the course of writing it?
Gladys Swan: Actually, when I couldn’t get the first version published, I put the manuscript in a box in the closet and didn’t touch it again until about three years ago. I was about to throw it away, but when I started reading it again, it seemed to me that the issues I was dealing with — political oppression and individual suppression — were as relevant and compelling as they were 30 years ago.
I spent about a year revising the novel. My editor liked the book and it was published. I made many changes, large and small. I had learned a lot meanwhile.
DBRL: How have your travels in Europe informed the creation of your protagonist Florrie and her journey in the book?
Swan: Indeed my travels in Eastern Europe were essential to the creation of Florrie’s character. My conversation with various people who had endured the suffering under dictatorship in Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, Albania, Hungary and Romania were eye-opening. I felt I had been deeply ignorant.
DBRL: You often create the artwork for the covers of your books. Which comes first, the art or the story?
Swan: I usually create the cover painting after the book is finished. I like to have an image that evokes some mood or action in the text. The cover for “Ceremony of Innocence” is an exception. I painted that several years before the book was written.
DBRL: How do you think your time in Mid-Missouri has influenced your writing?
Swan: My literary influences, my way of doing things, and my subject matter were pretty well established before I came to Missouri. I can’t say my writing has been influenced by my being here. Most of my life has been in the Southwest and New England.
DBRL: Read anything good lately you’d like to recommend?
Swan: One of the books I have enjoyed recently is “Braiding Sweetgrass.” It is such a beautiful statement of what the earth has to offer and how much it is to be appreciated and respected. The writer is a Native American.
DBRL: Where can readers get a copy of your book?
Swan: Skylark Bookshop has a copy on display and would be willing to order it.
