Sonya Chung: On Simplicity, or The Risks of Becoming Over-Sophisticated (July 2020)

The composer Tan Dun said, “If you become too sophisticated, you lose courage.”  This lecture revisits some simple, humble approaches to craft, including some we’ve come to look down on—among them, coincidence, noble characters, dreams, symbolism, familiar plots, or plain language.  Chung discusses fiction and poetry by Wendell Berry, Jane Kenyon, and Jacqueline Woodson, among others, to observe and honor the ways in which simplicity plus courage can yield effective and affecting work.