Reading Series: Justin Hocking

Alumnus Justin Hocking (M.F.A., ’02) read from his new book, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld, at the University Center for the Arts on the evening of March 3rd. Hocking was the featured author of the Crow-Tremblay Alumni Creative Writing Reader Series.

University Center for the Arts, the night of the reading

Justin Hocking was raised in Colorado and California and has been avidly involved in skateboarding and surfing for over twenty years. He created and contributed to the anthology Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End; his work has also appeared in the Rumpus, Orion, Thrasher, The Normal School, the Portland Review, Portland Noir and elsewhere. He is a cofounder, with A.M. O’Malley, of the yearlong Certificate Program in Creative Writing at the Independent Publishing Resource Center, and also teaches in the Wilderness Writing MFA program at Eastern Oregon University. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Hocking said, in a short feature published in AlumLine, that he was “beyond honored and excited” to be returning to CSU for the creative writing reading series. “I owe so much to the professors and the creative community who supported me during my graduate studies, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with them.”

Communications Coordinator Jill Salahub attended the reading and has this to share:

It’s been ten years since I’ve seen Justin Hocking in person. We went to graduate school together, were Graduate Teaching Assistants at the same time and friends. As introverts, tenderhearted writers teaching for the first time, we bonded over our shared love of the practice of writing and sense of terror in teaching it, (I heard someone say once that for introverts, teaching is an extreme sport).

Although Justin was a bit grayer than the last time I saw him, (I am too), and Professor John Calderazzo was convinced he’d gotten taller, it felt completely natural and familiar to see him, like no time had passed. We hugged and I told him again how happy I am that such good things are happening to him.

It’s the thing that almost everyone who knows Justin will tell you about him — he’s just a genuinely good guy. You really can’t help but like him. MFA graduate Drew Webster, who formally introduced Justin at his reading, said the first time he met Justin, what he noticed was his “disarming smile” and “generous and unfailing kindness.”

Before Justin started to read from his new book, Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld, he took time to talk about how when he first came to CSU for his MFA, he didn’t really know what he was doing. After, he said, he maybe still didn’t exactly know what he was doing, but he had a lot of friends. I heard him talk a lot that night about how important community has been to him, both personally and professionally.

Justin started reading from the beginning of his book, a section about surfing hurricane waves. (Hear Justin read the first chapter of his book in this podcast on Poets & Writers). From the first line of Justin’s book, it’s clear how it will go: straightforward and deep. “Late summer 2005 and everything’s underwater.” Cheryl Strayed describes it best in her quote on the back cover of the book,

As generous as it is smart, as intimate as it is grand, as illuminating as it is dark. With grace and guts, Justin Hocking dares to go where few men have gone before: not only out to sea, but also into the depths of the human heart.

Next, Justin skipped ahead to read from “Data. Assessment. Plan.,” a section about his first full-time job out of college in Colorado, how he spent the year before beginning his MFA at CSU as a counselor in a residential treatment center for adjudicated boys.

Then was “All I Need Is This Thermos,” the section of the book that describes being carjacked and having his laptop stolen, thus also losing the novel he’d been working on for two years. In an interview with Denver’s Westword, Justin said,

I was robbed at gunpoint in 2006, and went into an emotional tailspin in the wake of this trauma. I was living in New York City at the time, and started spending more and more time surfing out at Rockaway Beach, taking some dangerous risks, paddling out by myself way past sunset. Looking back, I realize I was in the midst of my own night sea journey. This dark voyage is what comprises the memoir’s core trajectory.

He paused during the reading and talked about this “night sea journey.”

He ended with “The White Dead,” a section that lists historical and literary figures who have shared his preoccupation with Moby Dick, including people like David Foster Wallace, Jackson Pollock, and Orson Welles.

After he finished reading, Justin took questions from the audience. He talked about how he’d actually been working on this book for close to seven years, and parts of it had been published elsewhere — most notably, a piece in The Normal School which eventually led to getting this book published. In relation to this, he returned to the importance of the community he found at CSU. In an interview with Oregon Live on The Oregonian, he described it this way,

It’s funny. I moved to New York City with a lot of ambitions toward making connections and meeting agents and editors and all that. I definitely did meet some wonderful people but the connection that partly led to the publishing of the book was someone I went to grad school with who now runs The Normal School, which is a really great creative nonfiction magazine. They ran an excerpt from the book and my current agent read that excerpt. It was the All I Need Is This Thermos piece about getting robbed at gunpoint. It’s one of the crux scenes in the book. He read it and really liked it and then started shopping it around.

He also talked about writing requiring “dumb persistence, grit.” He said something similar in his interview with Denver’s Westword, offering this advice to budding writers:

Take risks, and don’t be afraid to get lost — some of the best writing arises from uncertainty, from stumbling around in the dark. I don’t advocate for intentional suffering, but the beauty of the writing life is that you can transform traumas and difficulties into art. This profession also requires a special combination of sensitivity to the world and people around you, alongside pretty hardcore grit and perseverance.

Justin said that while his book is about “my own messy emotional life,” as the author, crafting it meant engaging in “the dance of intimacy and of distance,” gently guiding the reader to the truth he wanted to communicate, allowing them breathing room as he did so.

Justin said that even though he’d previously worked on writing fiction, with this book “I feel like I found a home in this form [creative non-fiction]…I just wanted to tell the truth.” And “this book is about me and my foibles, my flaws.” When asked what his plans were now that he had finished this book, Justin said “I have a bunch of things on deck I’m really excited about” — a collection of short stories, a novel, and another long form creative non-fiction project.

Justin signed books at the end of the evening, the CSU bookstore selling out of copies while there were still people hoping for one. If you need more convincing that this is a book worth reading, an author worth watching, a genuinely good guy, read more:

In Over His Head: Justin Hocking’s “Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld” in the Sunday Book Review section of The New York Times

“The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld” by Justin Hocking, a book review on The Boston Globe

Justin Hocking on surfing, trauma and The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld from Denver’s Westword

Book Notes – Justin Hocking “The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld” on largehearted boy

Justin Hocking’s Memoir Is About Surfing, Melville, And More an interview on OPB

Justin Hocking’s east-west journey: surfing in New York City, writing in Portland with Oregon Live on The Oregonian

Kirkus Review of The Great Floodgates of Wonderworld

~Jill Salahub

Sponsors of the Reading Series include the English Department and Creative Writing Program at Colorado State University, Organization of Graduate Student Writers through ASCSU, College of Liberal Arts, and the Armstrong Hotel. These events are also sponsored by a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Fund, a premier supporter of arts and culture at CSU. Please help grow this fund with a gift at: http://president.colostate.edu/lillabmorgan/index.aspx.

All events are free and open to the public. For additional information call 970.491.6428 or e-mail mary.ellen.ballard@gmail.com.

Reading: Alumnus Justin Hocking

Alumnus Justin Hocking is reading tonight from his new memoir, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld, at 7:30pm at the Tattered Cover in Denver.

Tomorrow night, Justin reads in Fort Collins as a part of the Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading Series. This event is free and open to the public, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, at the Colorado State University Center for the Arts.

In an interview from Denver’s Westword, Justin was asked, What advice do you have for budding writers?, and he answered:

Take risks, and don’t be afraid to get lost — some of the best writing arises from uncertainty, from stumbling around in the dark. I don’t advocate for intentional suffering, but the beauty of the writing life is that you can transform traumas and difficulties into art. This profession also requires a special combination of sensitivity to the world and people around you, alongside pretty hardcore grit and perseverance.

Reading Series: Edward Hamlin and Jim Shepard

Edward Hamlin is a Colorado-based writer whose work has appeared in the Bellevue Literary Review, In Digest, New Dog, and Cobalt, and has been produced theatrically in Chicago and Denver. He has recently completed a novel, Sleeping with Her, that explores dream life and the unconscious in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

His short story, “Night in Erg Chebbi,” won the 2013 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction and was published in the most recent issue of Colorado Review. Hamlin describes the story this way,

The story takes us on a journey into the Moroccan desert as a woman struggles to comes to term with her guilt over mistreating her brother. Along the way we meet up with Zouave guards, desert sheikhs, dying camels, ersatz harem girls, and automatic weapons in decidedly the wrong hands.

Reading with Hamlin was Jim Shepard, who Hamlin describes as “a writer I greatly admire, master storyteller … author of numerous story collections and novels. Jim was the judge who selected my story ‘Night in Erg Chebbi’ as the winner of the 2013 Nelligan Prize.”

English Department Communications Intern Brianna Wilkins attended the reading by Hamlin and Shepard February 6^th 2014 in the CSU Art Museum at the University Center for the Arts, and has the following to share:

I think it’s safe to say that Thursday February 6, 2014 was the one of the coldest nights of the year. The air outside literally hurt my face, as I stepped out into the bitter cold night, but it was all worth it in the end after attending Jim Shepard and Ed Hamlin’s reading at the UCA. Despite the below freezing temperatures, the room was filled to capacity with eager faces, waiting on these two phenomenal writers to read excerpts from their latest work. Students eagerly took out their pens and notebook paper to jot down facts about the featured authors; others quietly chatted amongst themselves, excited for the reading.

Each author was presented by an aspiring writer, as sparks of hope flickered through their eyes and was heard in their voice; wishing to become as successful as each of the authors. As the night went on, I myself understood why there was such passion in each presenter’s voice, because Ed Hamlin and Jim Shepard definitely rocked the UCA with their readings.

Edward Hamlin

Ed Hamlin went first, and within the first 30 seconds of him introducing his piece, a melodic tone interrupted him, indicating that someone forgot to be courteous and turn their ringer off. With everyone searching for the inconsiderate person to glare at, Hamlin informed that it was his phone, and that instantly broke the ice as we laughed and became more eager to hear his award winning piece.

Hamlin read his short fiction piece Night in Erg Chebbi, winner of the Colorado Review’s 2013 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction. In short, it’s centered on a woman and her husband who took a trip to Morocco, while she was dealing with the aftermath of her brother’s death in Afghanistan seven months prior. This was an emotional piece, and Hamlin’s somber tone had everyone in the room hanging on to his every word, hoping that it wouldn’t end in tragedy. Not one to spoil the story in its entirety, it can be read at http://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/features/night-in-erg-chebbi/. [Audio of this story from the reading is also available, http://www.edwardhamlin.com/audio/Erg_Chebbi_reading_Feb2014.mp3 (31:43)]

Jim Shepard

Coming all the way from the East Coast, Jim Shepard charmed the audience with his wit, making the audience laugh over and over again. He read two excerpts; one from his forthcoming novel, Aaron Only Thinks of Himself, and another from a short piece titled Cretan Love Song, 1600 B.C.. In Aaron Only Thinks of Himself, Shepard’s smooth voice serenaded the crowd as he read about a young boy who’d eventually be an orphan of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. He spoke of his troublesome but good hearted nature, of the loving relationship he had with his mother, and the difficult relationship he shared with his father. Cretan Love Song told of a Minoan tsunami that killed a father and son, and had a poetic feel to it.

Both authors took me on an emotional roller coaster. Throughout the laughs, heavy sighs, and consistent rounds of applause, Hamlin and Shepard together were nothing short of amazing. Despite the frigid weather, the warmth and welcoming presence of the audience, and the passion of each reader was well worth it.

~Brianna Wilkins

Sponsors of the Reading Series include the English Department and Creative Writing Program at Colorado State University, Organization of Graduate Student Writers through ASCSU, College of Liberal Arts, and the Armstrong Hotel. These events are also sponsored by a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Fund, a premier supporter of arts and culture at CSU. Please help grow this fund with a gift at: http://president.colostate.edu/lillabmorgan/index.aspx.

All events are free and open to the public. For additional information call 970.491.6428 or e-mail mary.ellen.ballard@gmail.com.

Reading Series: Richard McCann

Richard McCann (http://www.richardmccann.net/) writes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. He is the author of Mother of Sorrows, a work of fiction, and Ghost Letters, a collection of poems, as well as other pieces published in collections and various magazines. McCann has received awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, The MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he is a professor in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at American University. He is currently working on a memoir, The Resurrectionist, which explores the experience and meanings of illness and mortality through a narrative exploration of his experience as a liver transplant recipient.

English Department Communications Intern Evelyn Vaughn attended a reading McCann gave January 30^th 2014 in the CSU Art Museum at the University Center for the Arts, and has the following to share:

Sitting at the Richard McCann reading, I wondered if showing up on this snowy night would be worth it. Really – even as an English major and a passionate student of English, I wondered if I should leave early. It was starting to snow, after all. I had dragged my statistics major roommate along for her car – she was certainly not enthused. And when we left that night, there would be a new three or four inches of the white stuff on her Ford Escape.

Some of the audience at the reading that night

As Richard McCann was introduced, my roommate joked that McCann’s book of short stories was called Mother of Sorrows – “how uplifting.” As he began to read one of the stories from the book, even he remarked that this was the sort thing he would read to a depressed child. In “The Fairytale” McCann detailed his own mother, who, before her death, had said that a smoker’s cough would always remind him of her. It was to my utter surprise that the line that moved me the most that night would come from this story — “She told me I was her best friend. She said that I had the heart to understand her. She was forty-six. I was nine.”

It was amazing to me that in one night, in one room even, the mood could change from jokes about the reviews McCann received on Goodreads and the knit “Batman costume” behind the podium to a moment of remembrance shared between people. For McCann, remembrance of his mother. For others, maybe, remembrance of their own loved ones. For me, it was remembrance of how literature can bring people together. Even on a snowy night in the middle of winter in Colorado, passionate English students and faculty – even statistics students dragged along for the ride – showed up to hear one man read his work.

Author Richard McCann and the previously mentioned “Batman costume”

And later, it became clear it was not just simply his work to him. It was his heart. As his second story demonstrated, it was all of the things he felt that he could only express through writing. The story “The Resurrection” recounts his experience following a liver transplant he received. A story he wrote, he said, because he “felt this anger and desire to travel down to the places people said were unspeakable.”

As we listened to his self-named “survivor guilt” about his transplant in “The Resurrection,” my roommate and I no longer questioned our decision to show up to the UCA as Colorado dumped snow on Fort Collins. When it was all over, I looked to my right where she was sitting and found her just as rapt as the rest of us. Indeed, the reading series hosted by the English Department is not just place to go because your beginning creative writing class requires you to. It is a place to go to appreciate literature for what it really is – the human connection that transcends time, that allows us to express things that we never thought we could face, that moves us to tears or laughter – it is the embodiment of all that makes us human.

~Evelyn Vaughn

Sponsors of the Reading Series include the English Department and Creative Writing Program at Colorado State University, Organization of Graduate Student Writers through ASCSU, College of Liberal Arts, and the Armstrong Hotel. These events are also sponsored by a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Fund, a premier supporter of arts and culture at CSU. Please help grow this fund with a gift at: http://president.colostate.edu/lillabmorgan/index.aspx.

All events are free and open to the public. For additional information call 970.491.6428 or e-mail mary.ellen.ballard@gmail.com.