Writers of Various Genres Converge on Cabot House

Prominent journalists, novelists and poets gathered last night at Cabot House to share tricks of the trade—and their own individual writing quirks.

Authors such as New York Times reporter Miles Beller, novelists Bill Holinger and John Sedgwick, and poet Richard Hoffman discussed with the group the techniques and experiences of crafting a story.

The authors read excerpts from their works, fielded questions from students and discussed different perspectives and approaches to crafting a story.

“Writing well involves writing little by little,” said Holinger, author of The Fence Walker, a novel modeled on his experiences during the Korean War.

Beller, who is writing a biography on playwright and screenwriter Robert Sherwood, flew out from Los Angeles to come to the meeting.

“I think that the idea of writing a novel to a lot of people and to myself was a scary one,” he said. “The questions you’re asked throw you back on your own prejudices and what you assume in writing. It makes you defend and analyze your own positions.”

The authors came from different backgrounds, from teaching writing to working as journalists, to writing columns for magazines.

“I have never made a nickel any other way but by my writing,” said Sedgwick, author of The Dark House, a novel about stalking.

Audience members said they enjoyed hearing about the struggles even professional writers encounter when crafting a story.

“It’s nice to see that there are others facing the same struggles and uncertainties from day to day,” said Chris Kelly ’02.

“I feel like I gained something, even if I never end up writing anything,” said David Kim ’00.

The conference was intended to aid writers of all genres.

“I came because I am a journalist, a writer of a different form,” said Inoira Lakshmanan, a fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. “I came for the insights and wanted to discover other things that I wanted to do.”

The conference, organized by Susan Livingston, housing director of Cabot House, was open to both graduates and undergraduates.

Livingston said she plans to hold another writing conference, but has not set a date yet.