Norrin Ripsman has always been a writer, but when he decided to foray into fiction a few years ago, he discovered that he was flexing new muscles. The accomplished professor of international relations at Lehigh University in Bethlehem described a moment when he knew that this type of writing was different from what he was used to.
“I remember listening to a talk with a group of people talking to a writer, and he talked about the fact that the characters live in [the writer’s] head and that they talk to [the writer],” he said. “I thought at the time that that sounded a little bit pretentious, but now that I am writing fiction, that’s exactly what happens. I’ll lie in bed and the characters will talk to me and tell me that I’m writing them incorrectly, or that I’m not being fair to them, or that’s not how they would behave in a particular set of circumstances.”
Ripsman, a member of Lower Merion Synagogue, said that this is necessary to crafting a thorough story, as he needs to be able to live in the characters’ heads as much as they need to live in his. The Canadian-born Lower Merion resident just published his second fiction piece, a novel called “The Oracle of Spring Garden Road,” in June of this year. That follows the publication of his collection of short stories, “Song Book,” in May.
Ripsman is still a practicing professor, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing his true passion. He credits advice from his father for pointing him in the right direction.
“My father was diagnosed with cancer, and before he passed away he had a conversation with me in which he made it clear that there were things he pushed off in life — including writing — that had become too late for him to do by that point,” Ripsman said. “His advice to me was not to push something off if you really love it. And that percolated in my mind.”
Ripsman thought about this, but didn’t take action until he was struck with inspiration in the summer of 2021 while on vacation.
“I just had some very clear ideas for short stories, and eventually that turned into ‘Song Book,’” he said.
Ripsman was proud when his first collection — which is loosely inspired by the lyrics of classic rock hits — was released, but he had a bigger idea that needed to be written.
“After that, I had this idea for a story that really captured my imagination and it was too big for a short story. I realized that I actually had a novel, and that’s when I decided to write ‘The Oracle of Spring Garden Road,’ which revolves around a homeless man that turns out to be traditionally Jewish,” he said.
Ripsman thought that a homeless man would be an enlightening subject to center his novel around because they are “invisible in plain sight.”
“Homeless people are rather interesting — they have their own stories, their own paths and their own identities,” Ripsman said. “I liked the idea of a compelling homeless character who is invisible to everyone, particularly one who is very strongly connected to his own kind of Judaism. I began to think about what might have led him onto the streets, and how [religion] might complicate his behavior and his life.”
Ripsman said that part of the reason he was interested in pursuing this angle for his novel is his appreciation for the different versions of Judaism that exist for different Jews.
“Jewish identity is not a monolithic concept, but when I look around the Jewish community, I see people who unite around [the religion] but don’t necessarily share the same vision,” he said. “We have broad divisions between Reform or reconstruction or Conservative or Orthodox [movements]. I think, in a social environment, we all have to give space to others to define themselves differently from the way we understand ourselves — that’s the only way you can actually have community.”
Rispman said that he tried to address this issue with characters in “The Oracle of Spring Garden Road.”
“The dynamic that occurs in the novel is the character views himself as right and having a certain knowledge and he has a hard time navigating others and navigating views that are different than his,” he said.
For Ripsman, writing fiction has always been an outlet even if it wasn’t a profession. His desktop is filled with documents that may or may not ever make it into print. But that’s just the life of a writer, he said.
“I don’t choose what to write,” he said. “The ideas come to you, and if it’s an idea that intrigues you and might intrigue others, then it becomes a story.”