2012 Professional Writers Series - Brian Doyle, “Noticing What Goes Unnoticed”

Ernest Hemingway wrote standing up. Marcel Proust and James Joyce wrote while lying in their respective beds. Ben Franklin sat in the bathtub when he was writing. Some writers write solely on legal pads, some only use No. 2 pencils, many in the electronic age still swim across the page with their fountain pens. Do these idiosyncrasies really help forge a literary career? Come meet five articulate and distinguished Northwest writers from a variety of genres, who will share their views on the creative process. Discover what makes a memoir a memoir, what makes fiction fiction, and what gives meaning to the personal essay. Take part in weekly writing prompts and exercises. And perhaps, walk away from this special series with a new sense of purpose and direction, not to mention an expanded reading list that should spark your imaginative powers for days to come.

Brian Doyle is an award-winning novelist, essayist and editor of the University of Portland’s Portland magazine, ranked one of the 10 best American university publications. About his new novel, “Mink River,” The Oregonian said, “The greatest gift of ‘Mink Rive’r is that it provides every reason in the world to see your own village, neighborhood and life in a deeper, more nuanced and connected way.” The author of numerous collections of essays, Doyle's other books include “Saints Passionate & Peculiar,” “Credo,” and “Two Voices,” which won a Christopher Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award. Doyle’s work has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, American Scholar, Orion and in the Best American Essays anthologies of 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2005.

Prospective English students: Join us for a reception featuring a panel discussion and Q&A before each event in the Writing Center, Library room 203 from 6:15 - 7 p.m.