They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with author Kate Jarvik Birch, whose forthcoming novel, Unraveled, comes out April 3rd, and is the third installment of the Perfected series!
What does Kate Jarvik Birch love when she’s not writing about a future where beautiful girls are kept as pets by the rich? Spoiler alert: frightening futures, futuristic design, a classic painter with an eye for the fantastic. Interested? Read on for more!
Favorite TV Series: Here’s the thing… I consume television series the way that some people consume coffee. I realize that I’m a bit of an addict, but I’ve convinced myself that having a good show to look forward to makes me a more tolerable person (feel free to judge me).
Considering that Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, has been a huge influence in so much of my own writing, I had to include the TV series (by the same name) as one of my favorites of the past year. I gobbled this show up! As a mega fan of the book, I was not at all disappointed by the adaptation to the screen. They did a marvelous job retelling the story and the casting couldn’t have been stronger. Elisabeth Moss is captivating as Offred. At moments her eyes seem to have been given their own script. Wow! That woman can act without saying a word. Offred (previously named June) is one of the few fertile woman left in what used to be the United States. She has been assigned to live with one of the new country’s leading officials in hopes that she’ll become pregnant and help repopulate the “Gilead,” the totalitarian government that has taken over the country.
The show is both a vivid and terrifying look at what can happen to a country if the wrong people come to power. At times, it feels like an eerie predictor of our own future, one in which people’s rights are stripped away. As you can tell from reading my own books, I’m a fan of stories that examine personal freedom and the lengths that they’ll go to fight for their individual rights.
Favorite Book: Yeah, I could totally say The Handmaid’s Tale, but since I already referenced that one, I’ll pick another one of my favorites, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.
Don’t pick up this book unless you’re prepared to go to a dark place, both literally and figuratively. The Road takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which almost nothing lives. Color has been replaced by gray. Ash floats through a desolate and burned out shell of what America used to be. The book follows a father and his son as they travel the roads seeking sustenance and safety, both rarities in a world where nothing grows, and violent and lawless bands rule the land. This book has stayed with me for years. It’s an amazing look at what we keep of ourselves when everything is stripped away. I can vividly remember closing this book after I finished reading it the first time, and staring out into my living room, my small world, amazed and completely grateful that I got to live in a world full of color and hope. If there’s ever been a book to make me appreciate the things that I have, it’s this one.
Favorite Cool Design: As a person who believes that books aren’t the only things that can tell a good story, I’m a fan of truly great interior design. A well-designed room can not only inspire creativity, but help shape the way a person defines themselves. I love surrounding myself with cool spaces, whether it be on a hike in the mountains I’m so lucky to live near, or in a really great living room.
I’m a huge fan of the design company M3LD. Their aesthetic is fresh and modern and fun. The kind of look that makes me feel like one of the cool kids.
Favorite Artist: I actually got my BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Utah, so I have a huge connection with the visual arts. One of my all time favorite artists is Gustav Klimt. Klimt was born near Vienna in the late 1800s and painted into the early 1900s.
Maybe it’s the visual story telling in so many of his pieces that makes him one of my all time favorites. Klimt doesn’t shy away from color, pattern, and the human form. His art can be both dark and beautiful, realistic and fantastical. His figures melt in and out of the canvases. They’re the kind of paintings that you can visit again and again, always finding something new to see. It’s hard to choose one favorite painting by Klimt, but The Hydra is one that I adore. It has inspired my own poetry and illustrations.
Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer and illustrator turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals including Indiana Review and Saint Ann’s Review. Her essay One More Artificial Organ was listed as a notable essay in the Best American Essays 2014. She is also the author of the YA novels, Perfected, Tarnished, Unraveled, and Deliver Me.
Author Photo by Bryan Birch.
Thanks for sharing, Kate! We’re glad to have you!
I have got to get around to watching The Handmaid’s Tale. The book made quite the impression on me, and I’ve heard nothing but good about the show.
Did you ever watch The Road‘s film adaptation? How’d you like it?
Kate, thank you for giving me a new SF series to investigate! Love the covers.
The Road is a well-written book, but it’s so grim and depressing that I have never wanted to watch the film adaptation.