Noa Silver
Author Interview - Noa Silver
Author of California Dreaming
Having grown up on stories of her mother's wild youth in California, Elena Berg relocates from New England to the Bay Area in 2011 for a placement as an English teacher with Teach for America. Once there, she is eager to inspire a love of poetry and literature in her diverse but underprivileged students. Her own grandfather—a Holocaust survivor—was a storyteller and teacher who touched the lives of his students for years to come. Elena’s mother followed in his footsteps, leaving behind the hippie lifestyle of her twenties to become a university professor.
But Elena quickly finds herself feeling disconnected from teaching, unable to inspire her students, and before long, she grows disillusioned with her career. She transitions to a role in an education technology startup—though she questions her decision, her motivations, and her values.
Coming of age between the Occupy and #MeToo movements and against the backdrop of the 2016 election and California's ever-worsening fire season, Elena reckons with California as she imagined it and California as it really is. As she does so, she must also ultimately reconcile the person she envisioned herself to be with the person she actually is.
Author Interview - Noa Silver
Author I draw inspiration from:
I love Marilynne Robinson’s work, and especially her novel Gilead. It’s a book that almost teaches the reader how to read it as it goes on—the pace is slow, meditative, and yet there’s a strong beating heart at the center of it, propelling us forward. In general, I’m drawn to introspective, character-driven pieces, but there’s always the danger that it’s so slow it doesn’t go anywhere. I think Gilead is a masterful example of this kind of piece where there’s still a current moving us through.
Author Interview - Noa Silver | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
In a hammock! Whether in my garden, or strung up between two trees on a camping trip or at the beach, I love the feeling of swaying under the sky reading a book.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
I think I’d like to get stuck with Olive Kitteridge (of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge). My family moved to Maine when I was in middle school and I have a feeling our elevator interaction would include a lot of gossip about small-town Maine!
Author Interview - Noa Silver | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I remember the first time I realized that books had power. I read Julie of the Wolves as a kid and cried at the end, and I was just astounded that a book had been able to do that. I think my sense of myself as being a writer came about around the same time. I remember putting down a (different) book I was reading, suddenly realizing that I could write a story just as well. Ever since then I’ve wanted to be a writer.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I have to admit I’ve never actually listened to an audiobook. I like podcasts, but I have a feeling it would be hard for me to stay focused on an audiobook. I think I need the act of looking at the words to focus me. As to hardback vs paperback…I love holding them in my hands, and the physical act of turning the pages, feeling the heft of the book while reading. I mostly think of the hardback as a way to celebrate and support the author, but otherwise I’m partial to the paperback. I love my kindle for traveling, but I mostly reserve it for trips!
The last book I read:
I recently read Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and really enjoyed it! The book is about a mother of a toddler who seems to start turning into a dog at night. I thought the book straddled the line of metaphor and magical realism so well, existing kind of in a liminal space in between. And there were some wonderful rants and reflections of new/early motherhood, which, as a mother of two kids under five I could really relate to!
Author Interview - Noa Silver | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
For notes, journaling, free writes, etc. I prefer pen and paper. It’s physical/sensual in a way that adds to the pleasure of the experience, and also, I think, connects to the emotional experience of writing. But when I’m really working on a piece I want to do it on the computer. I like to be able to see it clearly, and all at once, so I can kind of try to hold the whole of it in my head while I work on it.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
I probably have to go with Elizabeth Bennett from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Maybe because she was one of my first literary loves? But also, I feel a great affinity with her—she’s highly observant, places great emphasis on friendships, and, though you might not suspect at first glance, in the end, has a deeply romantic heart.
Author Interview - Noa Silver | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I sometimes think I’ve been condemned by my love of books! All my professional routes as an adult have circled around books in some way, but when I was younger I was sure I’d be a professional musician (my parents are both classical musicians) and I still sometimes dream about being a singer on a stage.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I think fashion-wise, I’m really a child of the 1960s—flower dresses and long hair and wide jeans. I love the whimsy and laid-backness of much of the style.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’d love to travel in Ireland! I spent my childhood in Scotland—my mother’s family is Scottish—but many of my ancestors on her side originally came from Ireland. My mom grew up spending summers in Ireland and her stories hold a lot of romance for me. I would love to take my kids and go with my parents and siblings to visit some of the old family places in Ireland and Scotland.
My signature drink:
When I was in college, my drink was a whiskey sour—did I have some kind of Hemingway and Fitzgerald in Paris in the 1920s aspirations? Probably. Now, though, my evenings begin after my toddlers are in bed and all I want is ginger tea.
Favorite artist:
I’ve recently been reading about Kandinsky’s likely synesthesia and that has expanded my appreciation and understanding of his art. I love the overlap and connection between artistic media, and I am especially moved by Kandinsky’s use of color to express music.
Number one on my bucket list:
My bucket list has kind of gone off in two different directions—on one side, things just for me! And in this era of parenting little ones, my bucket list includes things like…going away for two whole nights! And in the other direction, my bucket list includes things I want to share with my kids, like when they’ll be old enough to go on a multi-day trek. My husband and I loved going on long hikes before we became parents, and I feel excited to start up again, kids in tow.
About Noa Silver:
Noa Silver was born in Jerusalem and raised between Scotland and Maine. After receiving her BA in English and American literature and language from Harvard University, Noa lived and taught English as a Second Language on Namdrik—part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the smallest inhabited atoll in the world. She later completed her MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University and then worked as an editor on various oral history projects, ranging from an archive documenting the Partition of India and Pakistan to a cancer researcher telling the stories of trauma experienced by cancer survivors. Noa lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband, Jack, and their two daughters, Alma and Leila.
