Family behind the fiction

Photo by Jason Hostetter

Robert Morgan spoke in chapel and at the second Writers Read.

Even though Robert Morgan states that his stories are truly fictional, some of his family members have claimed that the only fictional part of his books is the fact that they are called novels.

A New York Times best-selling novelist and award-winning poet, Morgan was the featured author for last Thursday's Writers Read. Morgan is currently an English professor at Cornell University, but has played the role of a farmer, house painter, and creative writing teacher in the past. This variety of experiences has helped to shape who he is today and the topics that he chooses to write about in both his novels and poems.

Morgan recounted his years of growing up in Henderson Valley, Va., on his family's farm, located among the Blue Ridge Mountains. As he shared some of his childhood experiences, it was evident that his family was and continues to be very important to him. When asked why he wanted to write fiction, he responded that he just wanted to tell some of his family's stories about farming and their country life. His best known novel, Gap Creek, nominated for the Oprah Book Club, is actually a story based on the marriage of his mother's parents.

Morgan also shared about the importance of his family's faith background and his struggle with some of the issues within his church. He shared two poems, entitled "The Gift of Tongues" and "Family Bible." Robert Morgan's honesty, humor, and talent of being able to engage others through his writing made the evening very enjoyable and worthwhile.

This was the second Writers Read hosted by EMU's Language and Literature Department this year. It was held in Martin Chapel.