About the Writer
Melanie McDonald was awarded a 2008 Hawthornden Fellowship for Eromenos.
She has an MFA from the University of Arkansas. Her short stories have appeared in New York Stories, Fugue, Indigenous Fiction, and online. An Arkansas native whose Campbell ancestors were Highland Scots, McDonald now lives in Virginia.
She has an MFA from the University of Arkansas. Her short stories have appeared in New York Stories, Fugue, Indigenous Fiction, and online. An Arkansas native whose Campbell ancestors were Highland Scots, McDonald now lives in Virginia.
What Inspired This Novel
I first encountered Antinous in Marguerite Yourcenar's novel Memoirs of Hadrian. Then I read that St. Athanasius described Antinous as a "shameless and scandalous boy." I decided to get to know him better.
At the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy, busts of Hadrian and Antinous reside along opposite sides of a long hall off
one wing of galleries. What a shame to have separated them, I thought at first.
After a while, I saw what the museum curator must have known, as the river of museum visitors rushed past between them: how their relationship must have been affected, even eroded, by a constant torrent of people all seeking an audience with the emperor of eternal Rome, even before the two were parted forever by the Nile. The curator in charge of placement there in the great hall had got it right. . .
Antinous appears to have been the love
of Hadrian's life; one wonders whether
the emperor was the love of his as well.
The heart knows no gender or boundary, and lays claim where it will.
At the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy, busts of Hadrian and Antinous reside along opposite sides of a long hall off
one wing of galleries. What a shame to have separated them, I thought at first.
After a while, I saw what the museum curator must have known, as the river of museum visitors rushed past between them: how their relationship must have been affected, even eroded, by a constant torrent of people all seeking an audience with the emperor of eternal Rome, even before the two were parted forever by the Nile. The curator in charge of placement there in the great hall had got it right. . .
Antinous appears to have been the love
of Hadrian's life; one wonders whether
the emperor was the love of his as well.
The heart knows no gender or boundary, and lays claim where it will.
An interview with Elizabeth Caulfield Felt
An interview with Frank at Hydra Publications
An interview at Indie Book Lounge
Interview with David Wisehart at Kindle Author
An interview with Nicole at Tribute Books
An interview with Audra at Unabridged Chick
An interview about Eromenos with writer
Faith Justice at Historian's Notebook
The story behind the story of Eromenos
(Italian Forum, English translation available)
An interview with Frank at Hydra Publications
An interview at Indie Book Lounge
Interview with David Wisehart at Kindle Author
An interview with Nicole at Tribute Books
An interview with Audra at Unabridged Chick
An interview about Eromenos with writer
Faith Justice at Historian's Notebook
The story behind the story of Eromenos
(Italian Forum, English translation available)
Guest Posts:
Stephanie Dray's Blog (Tasty Tuesday post)
Michelle Miller's The True Book Addict
Julie Dees' One Book Shy of a Full Shelf
Nan Hawthorne's Booking History
Allison Macias' Musings of a Book Junkie
Christy English's A Writer's Life
C. W. Gortner's Historical Boys
The e-Book House
Stephanie Dray's Blog (Tasty Tuesday post)
Michelle Miller's The True Book Addict
Julie Dees' One Book Shy of a Full Shelf
Nan Hawthorne's Booking History
Allison Macias' Musings of a Book Junkie
Christy English's A Writer's Life
C. W. Gortner's Historical Boys
The e-Book House
Interviews: