This morning Silas House came back to read an excerpt from his novel Clay’s Quilt. He also told us stories about his journey as a writer from Eastern Kentucky and gave advice to the aspiring artists in the room. Mr. House said his greatest piece of advice for young writers is to have a series of really awful jobs, because that’s where you get the best stories. He had been working as a rural mail carrier when he wrote his first novel, and he got to hear a lot of stories and know a lot of people in five minute conversations over the mailbox. Part of the success of Clay’s Quilt, he said, was the press he got because no one could believe an Eastern Kentucky mailman could write a novel like that, when in fact he had been writing all of his life. He also said that part of the appeal of the novel was that it was about modern people living in Appalachia—people with iPods and e-mail just like the rest of the world, not the stereotypical characters that might have existed hundreds of years ago. Silas House had been a journalist for a number of years, but when his paper wouldn’t let him do a story on the sheriff who drove his car into the courthouse one night, he realized that he could tell the truth more easily in fiction. One thing Mr. House said that really stood out to me was that he felt that it was his job as an artist to communicate the human experience—something that sounds much easier than it really is.

The Creative Writing Smorgs today were:

Rhythm Nation—taught by Ellen Hagan

Bon Appetite: Writing with Food—taught by Kelly Ellis

Ohmygod, College Essays!—taught by Creative Writing DA Dan Bernitt

There were several guest artists today teaching Master Classes—Adalhi Corn taught another one on Ballet, Edith Davis Tidwell taught a Vocal Music class, and Meme Tunnell taught one for the Instrumental Musicians.

Until tomorrow, this is GSA ’08 intern Laura Lamping Greenwell signing off.