By MARZIA SYEDA
Contributing Writer
Author Lacy M. Johnson, who wrote “The Reckonings,” which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, virtually visited Wednesday with English 317-The Art of Essay class via Skype, for a Q&A session.
College of Saint Rose professor, Jennifer Marlow, invited Johnson to offer insights to her student writers. “Since she is a writing teacher herself, I know that she will be able to converse with and offer practical advice to student writers,” said Marlow.
Johnson earned her PhD from University of Houston’s Creative Writing program and was both an Erhardt Fellow and Imprint Fondren Fellow. She has also been awarded grants and fellowships from Rice University’s Humanities Research Center and the Houston Endowment.
Johnson is a published author specializing in creative nonfiction, essays and memoirs and teaches undergraduate classes in creative nonfiction at Rice University.
As the session began, the students in the class sat around conference style, in the middle of the room in Albertus 304, anticipating to meet Johnson through the projector on the screen. Their anticipation came to a halt when Johnson announced that due to a cold, she was not comfortable in presenting herself via video but was able to hold conversations through Skype audio.
Prior to Johnson’s visit, during a virtual interview, Marlow said, “I met Lacy years ago through a mutual friend with whom she had gone to graduate school. I don’t know her incredibly well, but I have spent a bit of time here and there with her over the years.”
During the session, Marlow after a brief introduction, opened the class for questions. Johnson while answering questions also provided advice for the students.
“When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?” asked third year student Sabrina Leviton.
Johnson said that she always wanted to pursue writing but did not think it was possible to do so until college. She was encouraged by her high school teacher to keep writing. She is currently working on five books, two of which are going through the process of editing and the others are about to go through the editing process.
“Writing process starts with something that bothers me and takes an obsessive quality. I collect information to attempt to assuage the worry but when I am writing, the research doesn’t cover all aspects of the worry,” said Johnson.
“The research raises a question and that drives my essay forward. I don’t land on a single specific answer.”
Johnson also said that she always gathers and collects information from anywhere she can find it. She uses libraries, journal articles, databases, and sometimes historical newspapers. She writes until she feels that she does not want to do anything with her writing anymore.
“I find [Johnson] to be a very compelling and thoughtful storyteller,” said Marlow. “Her narratives are never just one thing: never just scene, never just exposition, never just personal experience, never just research. Instead, there is also this marvelous blending of all of those. It’s the kind of writing I like to do as well.”
“One thing I learned from the visit was that when you write about what you really care about, it shows. I think it is important to stick to your identity and not let people tell you what you should change about your writing to make your work more marketable,” said third year student Christina Mattern.
Before ending the session, Johnson left the students with words of encouragement.
“Nobody’s going to give you permission for your writing. You need to fight and grapple. Whatever opportunities you can find, take it. Follow your instinct and believe in your writing and in what you do,” said Johnson.
