Member-only story
Write Now
Write Now with Hilary Levey Friedman
How this writing about issues impacting people’s lives motivates this writer
Hilary talks about writing on a chaise lounge, which sounds incredibly comfortable. While I have an elaborate office setup with an ergonomic chair and sit/stand desk, there is something incredibly comforting about writing from the couch. Where do you write?
Who are you?
Hilary Levey Friedman, Professor at Brown University and author in Providence, RI. You can connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
What do you write?
I write non-fiction. More specifically, I write about the social sciences. I don’t shy away from saying I’m interested in “women’s issues,” which includes (but is not limited to) family, childhood, education, feminism, and pop culture. I used to write much more for an academic audience, which involved lots of theory and literature reviews, and less of what impacts people’s everyday lives, which is what I personally am most interested in exploring. My most recent book, Here She Is, is about beauty pageants in America and my previous book, Playing to Win, was about competitive afterschool activities for elementary school-age kids. An interest in competition and pop culture infuses much of my work.
Where do you write?
Just before I started graduate school, way back in 2003, I bought a chaise lounge that was on sale as the floor model at a furniture outlet. This became my main writing chair through four states and six moves; in fact I am typing this while sitting in the chair! It’s in my home office next to a desk, where I rarely write write. A good writing day includes several hours in the chaise in comfy pants, no bra, and no jewelry. I do edit in the chair sometimes, but I much prefer a silent campus library for editing, when I feel I need to be much more disciplined. The chaise may not be much to look at, but it’s sentimental value makes it beautiful to me.
