Call Me What You Will

Ada Calhoun (rather, “Ada Calhoun”) learns there’s nothing like a false name to help you be your real self.

MY LEGAL SURNAME, Schjeldahl, is complex and Norwegian. People see the j and abandon all hope of ever learning to pronounce or spell it. It’s a name I use only for appointments, plane tickets, and my license. It’s also the name of a prominent writer: my father. Growing up, I wanted to be a writer myself, but I felt that job was taken. “You’re not related to the art critic, are you?” people asked. If they gleaned that I had an interest in writing, they’d say, “Chip off the old block, eh?” I hated that metaphor: He was a granite monolith, I a shard. He was leaving heavy footprints in the earth, while I tiptoed behind. At 22, I was hired by The Austin Chronicle. (As uncomfortable as I felt pursuing a writing…

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O, Quarterly (Digital) - 1 Issue, Special #2 2022

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