‘Travel,’ says author Houston
One word.
One sentence.
One paragraph.
Dozens of stories.
The accumulation of these four elements has built the career of author Pam Houston, who visited Utah State University for the Moyle Q. Rice Lectureship on Feb. 25 and 26.
Houston has written the books “Cowboys are my Weakness,” “A Little More about Me,” “Waltzing the Cat” and many other stories and essays. She has just finished her fourth book, “Sighthound.”
During Houston’s stay in Logan she took part in three university events. The first was a roundtable discussion on Feb. 25 at the Alumni Center. She also helped teach a master class at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art and held a reading at Borders Books.
Also participating in the discussion were four professors from the USU English department: Christopher Cokinos, who directed the discussion; Jennifer Sinor; Michael Sowder and Charles Waugh. Houston discussed the writing process, her work, what made her want to be a writer and what she has learned as a writer.
“One of the things that I’ve learned with this is that I get tired of [writing a book] on the 85th page,” Houston said.
Sowder, an assistant professor of English, said what gets him writing is that he is “always looking for poems.”
“I don’t just sit down at my desk and say that I am going to write for three hours,” Sowder said. “Usually it starts with an image or a line for me.”
Houston has traveled extensively; the places she has visited include Botswana, Bolivia and Zimbabwe.
“As a writer, a lot of my stories begin with geography of landscape or place,” Houston said. “So now traveling is so bound up with the writing that I can’t really separate the two.”
There were several students who attended the discussion. Houston gave them advice on a wide range of topics. Her counsel for aspiring writers is to travel.
“Go have an experience, go to Tibet, go to the desert,” she said. “Go somewhere and have an experience.”
Houston added, “I never am more inclined to sit down and work on my novel than when I have a book review the next day.”
Houston also discussed when she started writing. She shared a story about her childhood when she did not like the ending of a Disney movie, so she re-wrote it. She also recalled that she has always been a writer.
“I don’t remember a time that I didn’t write,” Houston said. “I was always very involved with words and letters and language.”
According to www.pamhouston.net, her first collection of short stories, “Cowboys Are My Weakness,” was published in 1992. Her stories have also appeared in “Mirabella,” “Mademoiselle,” “The Mississippi Review,” and “Best American Short Stories” and her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, “Elle,” and “Vogue.” She edited “Women on Hunting: Essays, Fiction, and Poetry” (1994), and wrote the text for “Men Before Ten A.M.” (1997), a book of photos by the French photographer Veronique Vial.
For more information about upcoming events call 797-3858 or visit www.english.usu.edu.
-rbarlow@cc.usu.edu
Experienced author Pam Houston just published her fourth book. (Photo Jessica Alexander)