Research for “The Nawie” – Overview

I had an immense amount of research to do for my upcoming novel “The Nawie”. The book covers five decades, from the 50’s – 80’s, and despite it being a horror novel inspired by folklore, I wanted it to accurately reflect the time periods, the places, the music, the mood and the politics of the time, in order to give it an authentic and truthful representation of the world back then. The majority of the novel takes place in 1980, so that was the main year of focus, but understanding what events and moments led to the things taking place that year were equally as important to me.

The novel’s location was of specific importance, as it takes place in Minneapolis, MN and in Poland. Growing up in Minnesota was certainly a big plus, as I am intimately familiar with the locations I used. There were, however, many local events that transpired that I was too young to be privy to, and also a host of bars and venues that were around back then that I wasn’t old enough to go to. Poland, on the other hand, I have never been to, nor did I know very much about, other than through the lens of some of my favorite films, namely those by director Krzysztof Kieslowski. So, my research in this area was vast, fascinating and inspiring.

Music plays a huge role in “The Nawie”; primarily due to it playing an important part in the lives of my two main characters, Marcelina Bajorek and Jack Hayborough. Music changed a lot in-between the late 60’s and 1980; specifically the birth of New Wave and Punk in the mid-70’s in Minneapolis, in particular. The research I did here opened my eyes to a whole new world of music I was not previously familiar with, and it has completely changed my musical inclinations.

In my next few posts, I will dive into each area of research in more detail, in the hopes that I can maybe impart some of my accrued knowledge onto you fair readers, and open a few eyes to some new music, history, the city of Minneapolis, the country of Poland and of course my novel, “The Nawie”.

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