o9: Eleanor Henderson on Ten Thousand Saints being Adapted to a Movie and the Challenges of Writing

I worked with Eleanor Henderson for a year at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, during the 2022/2023 school year. She was the chair of the Writing department at the time, and I was a lecturer. We had a lot of conversations about teaching, writing, and ideas. We've stayed in touch since, and still to this day, talk about said things, while keeping each other up to date as our lives keep moving on through new milestones. I was so excited and a little nervous to interview her. But she is a teacher, and a novelist, and her presence is very present.

During my time teaching at Ithaca College, I learned that she wrote a book called Ten Thousand Saints where the characters lives were heavily involved in the straight edge hardcore music scene in New York City in the 1980s. Her husband was heavily involved in the scene during the time, and though they met later, by proxy, he spurned her hunger and curiosity to delve deeper into the movement that's influenced so many people and musicians. Naturally, as a gigantic music fan, I thought that maybe we could talk about the book she wrote a bit ago, and it being the 10th anniversary of the movie that was made (for the record, Eleanor is celebrating this!), We get into a little hardcore, Ian Mackaye, ethnography, ethics, writing, expanding or exploring ideas, and life.

She's currently working on her 4th book!

Her other books are: The Twelve-Mile Straight, and her memoir, Everything I have is Yours

Catch them here: https://eleanor-henderson.com/