Harrison Hurst on Ibrahim ibn Yaqub and his award-winning story “The Dog Star"
1. Who is Ibrahim ibn Yaqub and when did you first discover your interest in his travelogue?
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness
I actually came across Ibrahim ibn Yaqub while trying to write a different story. I found his short account of Hedeby while doing research on Norse Scandinavia and felt compelled to write a version of his journey instead.
Ibrahim ibn Yaqub was a 10th-century Sephardic Jewish merchant and explorer. His life is sparsely attested to, primarily by writers referencing his now-lost travelogues. My own knowledge of him relates primarily to his record of Hedeby; beyond that, my impression is that he is most notable for his experiences in Eastern Europe, where he was the first to report in writing on numerous Eastern European rulers and realms, including introducing the city of Prague into the written historical record. Yaqub's writing can be found in the Penguin Classics collection Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (2012)
2. Can you give us a very brief synopsis of "The Dog Star" and explain just how much of it is based on documented history?
"The Dog Star" follows Ibrahim ibn Yaqub as he tries to close a trade deal in the Norse city of Hedeby, in modern-day Schleswig-Holstein. In order to curry favor with his local contact, he agrees to attend their annual festival in honor of the Dog Star, which for the Norse, represents the God of Plenty. Only too late does he realize that he worships the Dog Star just as much as the pagans do, with dire consequences.
I've taken Yaqub's brief account at face value, with the understanding that pre-modern writers tended to write what they felt to be true or worth reporting, without as much concern for accuracy or posterity as we might have today. I think it's an interesting exercise in historical fiction, and would say this piece has attempted to be an authentic interpretation of Yaqub's record as he wrote it.
3. How did your story change from first to final draft? How did you know it was done?
With all of my pieces, there is generally a singular moment I'm driving towards; usually a narrative climax or ending, sometimes a sequence of dialogue or character interaction. Whenever I've reached that moment, I tend to go back over the supporting material to determine if it's cohesive with this moment and vice versa. "The Dog Star" followed this pattern; I knew what the climax was, what it needed to look like and entail, the emotion it needed to convey, and I worked towards that moment. When I felt I'd succeeded, I went through adding and subtracting details with the intention of increasing the authenticity of this expression of the period and the people who called this period home.
As an example, I originally envisioned the festival occurring on the ascent of a cliff overlooking the sea. I didn't really think about it all that much until it occurred to me that I wasn't sure what the topography around Hedeby looked like. Come to find out it was quite flat and not nearly as close to the sea as I'd believed, despite its inexorable connection to the sea through the Schlei. So I changed the scenery a little bit and the story became more distinct and unique because of it; in essence, more true to its time.
“The Dog Star” is 1 of 10 stories to be published in History Through Fiction’s upcoming anthology An End of Troubles.
4. Tell us more about yourself as a historian who uses creative means to share valuable history?
History, as I'm sure it is for all the writers in this anthology, is simply my natural way of expressing myself. I gravitate towards an existentialist worldview, and within that context, the patterns and continuity of history have always compelled me as a means by which I can construct meaning. I think this is a purpose, if not the purpose of art, to allow the artist to construct meaning for themselves.
5. What are some of your goals as a writer?
I've always wanted to write well. I'm still trying to figure out what that means as a standard. I know it's not commercial success. I'm not built for that and there are a lot of commercially successful books I didn't care for anyway.
There are books I take with me. If I can get to the point where people take my work with them, I will have succeeded as a writer.
6. Tell us about Walnut Street Publishing and the work you do there.
Walnut Street Publishing is a local publisher based in Chattanooga, TN. We're a small team of three and our work is primarily focused within the Greater Chattanooga Area. Our mission has been to redefine publishing as community and to make artistic expression accessible both to artists and the public. I primarily handle communications for the company, organizing and managing meetings, deadlines, public relations, etc. though again, given the size of our team, I usually dabble in a little bit of every responsibility. Relevant to HTF, I'm also currently working on republishing Chattanooga authors whose work is simultaneously in the public domain and not readily accessible by the general public outside of a library archive or rare print copy. It's my hope that I can re-integrate these authors into the literary community of Chattanooga and give them a second chance at recognition in the place they called home.
About the Author
Harrison Hurst was raised among the mountains and valleys of Tennessee, in the city of Chattanooga, where he earned a dual Bachelor's Degree in History and Liberal Arts. These two fields form the foundation of his work, which seeks patterns in the history of humans and the earth, and elucidates them through art. He currently works as an executive assistant at Walnut Street Publishing
