Current Issue: Fall 2024 with Featured Author Don Noel

Macrame: You have vast experience in the world of writing, first as an award-winning journalist and later as an author of a substantial body of work which includes short fiction, nonfiction, and a full-length memoir, Near a Far Sea: A Jamaican Odyssey. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how your writing journey began, what it meant to you throughout your life, and what it means to you today?

Don Noel: I only half in jest say that my writing career began when, at age five, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and spent a half year on a sunporch in Saranac Lake, NY with almost nothing to do but read. I had a precociously-large vocabulary when I started school in third grade. I founded a school newspaper the next year, began writing Boy Scout news for the local weekly in seventh grade and by ninth was its (slightly)-paid sports reporter. I have always been happiest using words to report events or express ideas.

Macrame: Can you share with us some of the highlights of your early career and your most memorable experiences as a journalist?

Don Noel: Early in my career at the Hartford Times, I was given six months to report and write a comprehensive history and examination of the city’s black population. My The Negro in Hartford, a 40-page no-advertising tabloid, was published in November 1963, making me a finalist for that year’s Pulitzer in non-deadline reporting and earning the Gannett Group a special Pulitzer, as well helping change Connecticut attitudes and helping launch a dozen African-American political careers.

Macrame: As a reporter you often covered political events of your time. What motivated you to take an active role in the social issues impacting your community and to eventually take a leadership role as a Chair of the ACLU of Connecticut?

Don Noel: I always prized my independence. Until my retirement, the only role I took in social issues was as reporter, and later editorial writer and op-ed columnist. The ACLU was my first membership in such organizations, after retirement; they soon put me to work

Macrame: Later in life, you decided to move from journalism to writing. What made you decide to enroll into an MFA program to get a formal writing degree? What are some of the most valuable things you gained from the MFA program? 

Don Noel: I had from time to time dabbled in writing fiction, not very successfully. In retirement, I went back at it, and soon realized that I needed guidance: fiction and journalism differ. At age 80 I hardly cared about adding a degree to my résumé, but the Fairfield University limited-residence MFA program appealed to me. Novelist Michael White, then director, was among a half-dozen professors who profoundly improved my fiction skills.

Macrame: Your novel memoir “Near a Far Sea: A Jamaican Odyssey” is set in Jamaica and tells the story of your family’s adventure of building a vacation home on Jamaica’s South Coast and connecting with the local community in the process. What drew you to Jamaica in the first place, and what about your experience with this culture and country inspired you to write the book?

Don Noel: Hartford has long been a destination for Jamaican émigrés, and we had many friends in that community who sang the praises of their homeland as a vacation destination. We lucked into a small hotel in an unspoiled fishing village; returned to rent one of the few cottages, and decided we could mix business with pleasure by building and staffing a villa to accommodate a large family. I am still in touch with and supportive of our Treasure Beach friends.

Macrame: You have continued to write prolifically over the years, what motivates you to continue writing today?

Don Noel: I’m sure it’s a disease familiar to many of your readers: I take great pleasure in writing (and re-writing!) words that may capture imaginations. I can become so absorbed that I miss meals. The joy of writing makes tolerable the physical limitations of growing old.

Macrame: How do you decide where to submit your stories, and what are the qualities in literary journals that you are looking for? What does it mean to you to have your work published in literary journals at this stage in your career?

Don Noel: Thanks to Duotrope and my own elaborate bookkeeping, I keep track of when a story has been dismissed early, or when it remained under consideration until final selection time (or was chosen). Over time, I submit only to those likely to accept my work; among those my preference is a reputation for quality.

Macrame: Who are you as a reader? What did you read as a young person and what do you gravitate to now?

Don Noel: Thanks to a news career covering government and politics, I’m a political junkie; but I also read a lot of others’ short stories, looking for inspiration and ideas. I have Audible read to me a variety of novels and political books, and spend an hour or so a day with my iPad.

Macrame: Can you share some words of advice regarding life, work, or writing with our readers?

Don Noel: Don’t be discouraged; listen to those willing thoughtfully to critique your writing; and keep writing!

Macrame: What are you working on now and what can we look forward to read from you in the near future?

Don Noel: Short stories, mostly, although a novel in the back of my head may force itself on me.