“Blisteringly human” — a phrase that Jesse Waters, director of the Bowers Writers House at Elizabethtown College, uses to describe Kyle Minor’s work. Minor is a contemporary short story writer who presents his work at Bowers Writers House Thursday, Jan. 30.
Waters met Minor when he submitted his own work to a literary magazine that Minor was editing. “He struck me as a really insightful young guy, and I thought he would make a good visitor for our community,” said Waters.
There are several motives for bringing contemporary fiction, specifically short stories, to Elizabethtown’s campus. Even though the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in 2013 was Alice Munro, “one of America’s greatest contemporary western story writers” and a writer of short stories, Waters still believes that short fiction is not getting as much attention as it should.
Witnessing the creativity and intention of the story, firsthand, is a rare privilege.”
“We live in a short-attention-span culture,” said Waters, who believes short stories are a great opportunity to engage with literature while doing everyday tasks, such as riding the subway or waiting in line at the doctor’s office.
Senior English literature major Maddie Rasmussen believes students at E-town could benefit from Minor’s readings. “Witnessing the creativity and intention of the story, firsthand, is a rare privilege. To be able to hear a story the way the author intended it is another privilege,” she said.
Short fiction these days is so dynamic, said Waters, who added that Minor is “a great person to start off the semester and to bring a really strong sense of incredibly powerful, successful, accessible contemporary short fiction to E-town.” Minor will bring his short stories to the campus, as well as his new book, “Praying Drunk,” which comes out Feb. 4. Copies are available after his event, which kicks off the spring lineup at Bowers Writers House.