Is interviewing authors something of the modern age?

[Gerald]

This may be a difficult question and I wonder if anyone knows. You never hear about interviews with, say, Poe or Lovecraft. There are Lovecraft interviews on internet, but most likely they're fake.
Today it is very common for authors to take the time to sit down with a journalist and answer questions. (Or more directly to answer readers themselves.)
Some do it more often than others, but it seems they all do it at some point.

But if the works of classic writers still exist, why do you never find interviews with them? Perhaps Poe or Lovecraft were not that well known, but there are always journalists that must have read them and wanted to talk to them.
And surely someone like Dickens was very popular.

Also Dracula, which seems not to have been an immedeate bestseller, it must have attracted attention enough to interview Stoker.
You can still find reviews about classic literature from the time it came about, but never interviews...

 

[Gerald]

The closest I can find is this. It's Arthur Conan Doyle speaking on Holmes and spiritualism. Although it's not really an interview.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I don't recall any actual interviews of the caliber of writers you mention...most are "fictional" with someone writing in that style, after doing research on the subject...it seems, from what very little I know, that in the day...they received "blurbs" in the papers of their new efforts...but that was about the extent...I don't think as a people we were any less curious years ago, just more focused on everyday survival and people were also less educated, so reading was a necessity for most-not a relaxation...

 

[Sundrop]

I'm not sure that interviewing as we know it today was as common years ago

 

[HollyGolightly]

Interesting question, I think I agree with the others - leisure time was different in the day of the classic writers. Thanks for the Conan Doyle clip!

 

[Gerald]

...I don't recall any actual interviews of the caliber of writers you mention...most are "fictional" with someone writing in that style, after doing research on the subject...it seems, from what very little I know, that in the day...they received "blurbs" in the papers of their new efforts...but that was about the extent...I don't think as a people we were any less curious years ago, just more focused on everyday survival and people were also less educated, so reading was a necessity for most-not a relaxation...

People DID write to writers, as Conan Doyle says.

Also funny how many people believed characters were real. Just as many believed the Necronomicon to be real. I suppose it's the way many novels are written as witness accounts of people; journals, letters, newspaper articles - like in Dracula.
Like you say, people were less educated, how can they distinguish fiction from reality? Would a book always have said 'fiction' on it?
Nowadays we have that with Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch Project, where people think these are authentic images. I can never believe how people can actually believe that, but people really do.

 

[Neesy]

This may be a difficult question and I wonder if anyone knows. You never hear about interviews with, say, Poe or Lovecraft. There are Lovecraft interviews on internet, but most likely they're fake.
Today it is very common for authors to take the time to sit down with a journalist and answer questions. (Or more directly to answer readers themselves.)
Some do it more often than others, but it seems they all do it at some point.

But if the works of classic writers still exist, why do you never find interviews with them? Perhaps Poe or Lovecraft were not that well known, but there are always journalists that must have read them and wanted to talk to them.
And surely someone like Dickens was very popular.

Also Dracula, which seems not to have been an immedeate bestseller, it must have attracted attention enough to interview Stoker.
You can still find reviews about classic literature from the time it came about, but never interviews...

Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction.

Virtually unknown and only published in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre.

Well I guess the above would explain why H.P. Lovecraft was never interviewed

 

[Neesy]

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.[1]

He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career

The above is also from Wikipedia (just like the blurb on Lovecraft was)

I guess when you consider people did not have telephones, radio, TV, internet etc. back in Edgar Allan Poe's era it is not surprising that he was never interviewed. Today we have mass communication which is something people will now try to get away from, as it can become TOO invasive

 

[Gerald]

I was thinking about interviews in newspapers or magazines. But then, as a result of less means of communication, the newspapers perhaps were more limited in size as well, and didn't have whole sections about literature as they do now.

It still seems strange to me that even in those pulp magazines they wouldn't think about putting in an interview, but they must have thought the stories spoke for themselves.

Actually what you do find is authors writing about other authors. I have a piece on Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos written by August Derleth (but I don't know if it was published in the same time the stories were; it might be more recent). But the conversational aspect seems pretty much absent, you don't see or hear an interviewer in that Conan Doyle film for example.
It's too bad Lovecraft was never filmed or recorded. He died in 1937, he could easily have been - but indeed the technology was less available than now. When you read someone you get curious about their voice and way of speaking.

 

[kingricefan]

Aren't there lots of interviews/articles with/on/about Mark Twain?

 

[Gerald]

Thanks. Seemed strange to me it wasn't done in the past.

Why from some authors the interviews remain and others are lost, hard to say. It probably strongly depends on which newspaper and how well they're archived. And perhaps some were hesitant to do it all together, or felt their work said it all. You get the feeling it was just less common, now it's something that's almost expected and used as a way to get a new work known to the public.

 

[Neesy]

I was thinking about interviews in newspapers or magazines. But then, as a result of less means of communication, the newspapers perhaps were more limited in size as well, and didn't have whole sections about literature as they do now.

It still seems strange to me that even in those pulp magazines they wouldn't think about putting in an interview, but they must have thought the stories spoke for themselves.

Actually what you do find is authors writing about other authors. I have a piece on Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos written by August Derleth (but I don't know if it was published in the same time the stories were; it might be more recent). But the conversational aspect seems pretty much absent, you don't see or hear an interviewer in that Conan Doyle film for example.
It's too bad Lovecraft was never filmed or recorded. He died in 1937, he could easily have been - but indeed the technology was less available than now. When you read someone you get curious about their voice and way of speaking.

You will meet him in the Clearing

 

[Neesy]

Thanks. Seemed strange to me it wasn't done in the past.

Why from some authors the interviews remain and others are lost, hard to say. It probably strongly depends on which newspaper and how well they're archived. And perhaps some were hesitant to do it all together, or felt their work said it all. You get the feeling it was just less common, now it's something that's almost expected and used as a way to get a new work known to the public.

Publicity maybe? - the people that sell the books would encourage it, I would think. A lot of things are driven by profit, therefore Mr. King who had humble beginnings is now able to afford a place in Florida (I don't think he calls his mansion Big Pink - that is from Duma Key, but still he is a millionaire now). The guy has been writing full time for God knows how many years now, so he deserves it

 

[Gerald]

I think things are done differently in different times. What happens to all those interviews authors do with websites once the website goes down? Will we still find those in 100 years?