{"id":16406,"date":"2025-11-14T14:13:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T14:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=16406"},"modified":"2025-11-14T14:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T14:13:05","slug":"the-art-of-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/11\/14\/the-art-of-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"The art of listening"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Storyboard community:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The first word in Sasha Bon\u00e9t’s memoir, \u201cThe Waterbearers,\u201d<\/a> is a clear call to action: <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cListen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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As I was listening to contributor Christina M. Tapper<\/a>‘s expansive conversation with Bon\u00e9t for this week’s Nieman Storyboard podcast<\/a>, Bon\u00e9t offered many insights that return to this core principle: During our quest to find the story, we must stay open and listen when it finds us. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Bon\u00e9t was working on an assignment about the artist Emma Amos when she interviewed sculptor and filmmaker Camille Billops \u2014 who then began opening up about her decision to give up her 4-year-old daughter for adoption<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u200a\u201cAll she wanted to talk about though was this daughter she had given away who had died, and I was like, kind of pushing back on it. \u2026 And then at some point I just got quiet and I listened, and it was fascinating, all of the things she was saying. And I thought, okay, this is the story,\u201d said Bon\u00e9t. The resulting feature, \u201dThe Artist Who Gave Up Her Daughter,\u201d<\/a> was published by the digital magazine Topic and named to many year-end \u201cBest Of\u201d lists in 2019. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Bon\u00e9t says the experience was a reminder about \u201cletting the story carry you where it needs to be.\u201d Billops’s story is one “tributary\u201d in Bon\u00e9t’s memoir, which is about her own family, and more broadly about Black womanhood and motherhood in the U.S. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Give the conversation a listen. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Sasha Bon\u00e9t on \u2018leaving room for the story to shape itself\u2019 and how a family home can become a character<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"Sasha<\/a>
Sasha Bon\u00e9t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cIn a practical sense, I needed to include [my grandmother’s house] because I had so many characters. \u2026 I needed a place where everyone could be in one room. I think in telling any story, whether it’s in film or writing, you need a place. \u2018Seinfeld\u2019 had a place; \u2018Friends\u2019 had a place. There always needs to be a place where all the characters can be in one setting, and then the main characters can kind of exist outside of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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[ <\/strong>Read the story<\/strong><\/a> ]<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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