Lidia Yuknavitch: The beauty of being a misfit
Lidia Yuknavitch: Frumuseţea de a fi inadaptat
In her acclaimed novels and memoir, author Lidia Yuknavitch navigates the intersection of tragedy and violence to draw new roadmaps for self-discovery. Full bio
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of things that are big,
despre lucruri importante,
about something very small.
despre ceva foarte mic.
un cuvânt pentru asta.
because it's so literal.
pentru că este atât de literal.
who sort of missed fitting in.
care nu se adaptează,
nu se adaptează corect
misfits in the room,
ca mine din sală,
niciodată singura.
despre asta.
came right to my doorstep.
I'd won a giant literary prize
câştigat un mare premiu
pe care o scrisesem.
as a competitive swimmer
ca înotător profesionist
de doi bani de acasă
and loss can make you insane.
care te pot face să îţi pierzi minţile.
to meet big-time editors and agents
întâlneam editori şi agenţi importanţi
writer's dream, right?
the letter came to my house?
când am primit scrisoarea?
pe masa din bucătărie
for an entire day,
în lenjerie toată ziua
I'd already screwed my life up.
în care deja îmi stricasem viaţa.
failed marriages underneath my belt.
not once but twice
that I'm not going to tell you about.
să vorbesc despre asta.
of rehab for drug use.
pentru uz de substanţe.
staycations in jail.
I think, I was a misfit,
eram inadaptată
the day she was born,
how to live with that story yet.
I also spent a long time homeless,
of zombie grief and loss
de durere şi pierdere ca un zombi,
are some of our most heroic misfits,
sunt nişte eroi inadaptaţi
to just about every category out there:
pe mai multe planuri:
sad stone in my throat.
that I got on that plane
am luat avionul
see your heads glowing.
famous writers you wanted to meet,
trei scriitori preferaţi
and found them for you.
late in the night
mişto, deştepţi, grozavi.
and smart and swank, too.
că şi tu eşti aşa.
of editors and authors and agents
de autori, editori şi agenţi
I stole three linen napkins --
am furat trei şerveţele --
so that when I got home,
happened to me.
acea experienţă.
pe care doream să-i văd
and Peggy Phelan.
şi Peggy Phelan.
best-selling authors,
faimoşi, foarte citiţi,
that later became my art bible.
a devenit cartea mea de căpătâi.
permission to believe
posibilitatea să cred
my stories could be part of the world.
mele să fie recunoscute.
could be more important than my boobs.
mai important decât sânii.
through the mainstream
water cut the Grand Canyon.
apa a săpat Marele Canion.
over-50-year-old women writers.
femei de peste 50 de ani.
killed me with joy
aproape am murit de bucurie
o asemenea bucurie.
într-o cameră de genul ăla.
niciodată la facultate.
in New York I wanted to die there.
I'm good. This is beautiful."
„E atât de bine. Este minunat.”
will understand what happened next.
ce s-a întâmplat după.
of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Farrar, Straus şi Giroux.
was like my mega-dream press.
erau visul meu.
were published there.
au fost publicaţi acolo.
and talked to me for a long time,
de vorbă cu mine
că am o carte în mine
cât a vorbit cu mine,
like a numb idiot,
came out of my throat.
on the shoulder
to the offices of W.W. Norton,
I'd be escorted from the building
and touching the moon
across the cosmos.
a deal it was to me.
with these beady, bright, fierce eyes
şi, cu ochii strălucind,
something then, immediately!"
especially TED people,
în special cei de la TED,
and licking a stamp.
at the National Poetry Club.
la Clubul Naţional de Poezie.
Hoyt & Picard Literary Agency,
Literala Kidde, Hoyt & Picard,
şi mi-a strâns mâna
like, on the spot.
were dressed so beautifully,
era îmbrăcată aşa frumos
that small, sad stone in my throat ...
către mine, acel nod din gât...
about people like me.
despre oamenii ca mine.
how to hope or say yes
să sperăm sau să spunem da
we deserve to be in the room
că merităm să fim acolo
and I'd coach myself.
atunci şi m-aş antrena.
over-50-year-old women who helped me.
de peste 50 de ani care m-au ajutat.
You belong in the room, too."
Aici este locul tău!”
and rain come back into view,
of airplane "feel sorry for yourself."
„de autocompătimire”.
I was some kind of misfit writer.
chiar scriitoare, eram una inadaptată.
fără să închei un târg,
and heart-ful of memories
I allowed myself.
pe care mi l-am permis.
who tries to get you to shut up
care îţi spune să taci
only you know how to tell."
aşa cum doar tu ştii.”
the woman over 50.
sunt o femeie la 50 de ani.
studenţii mei preferaţi.
I've had to reinvent a self
în care m-am reinventat
were really just weird-ass portals
eşuările sunt portaluri
was give voice to the story.
poveştilor mele.
about following your dreams.
despre a-ţi urma visele.
to reinvent yourself
or your job or your husband
sau slujba, sau soţul,
in the middle of your failure
and phenomenal misfit,
rar, fenomenal,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lidia Yuknavitch - AuthorIn her acclaimed novels and memoir, author Lidia Yuknavitch navigates the intersection of tragedy and violence to draw new roadmaps for self-discovery.
Why you should listen
Writer Lidia Yuknavitch discovered her calling after an interrupted journey as a would-be Olympic swimmer. Her prose erases the boundaries between memoir and fiction, explodes gender binaries and focuses on the visceral minutiae of the body.
She was inspired by Ken Kesey (with whom she collaborated on a collective novel project at Oregon University); her latest book, The Small Backs of Children, stands as a fictional counterpoint to her memoir The Chronology of Water, which has garnered her a cult following for its honesty and intensity.
Lidia Yuknavitch | Speaker | TED.com