A talented trio
Alumni return to take part in Good Thunder Reading Seriesby Leah Christensen
Issue date: 1/29/09
Section: Good Thunder Reading Series
Minnesota State has seen many inspiring writers step into its halls, each student to fill the skeletons of his/her writing prowess with meat and then enter the real world with newly polished skills.
Now, a few of these writers get a chance to come back to MSU and show off what they've done with their knowledge.
MSU alumni Benjamin Drevlow, Nicole Helget and Jude Nutter are featured in the first Good Thunder Reading series for the spring term. They'll give a talk on craft at 3 p.m. today in Ostrander Auditorium and read from their published work at 7:30 p.m. in Centennial Student Union 253.
"All three of them worked really hard when they were here and set an example for others," said Richard Robbins, director of the Good Thunder series and an English professor. "Now they published books and we like to bring them back to showcase what they've done."
Coming back is important for the writers as well. The chance to once again walk along old stomping grounds is a significant moment in their post-graduate lives, and for similar reasons.
"Mankato feels like more of a home to me than where I grew up," Drevlow said. "I have more connections, I have more attachment and familiarity."
Drevlow said teaching and writing along with his fellow MFA students felt like a diverse family to which he couldn't help but feel attached to. The shared moments of artistic highs and lows is a considerable part of the writing program experience.
"We were thrust together to suffer humility, revel in success and embrace all our flaws, tics, anxieties and mania," Drevlow said.
A 2006 graduate, Drevlow now has a teaching job at the University of Wisconsin Â- Whitewater. Having time to reflect upon his years at MSU, he considers the period to be some of the most meaningful years of his life and draws from the experience as he caters to his current writing and teaching careers.
Drevlow isn't alone.
"I love this community. The writers here take care of each other," said Helget, who lives with her husband and five children in North Mankato. "It's been the warmest environment, as a writer, I could hope for."
Helget's debut book, "Summer of Ordinary Ways," was the recipient of a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers honor. An immense success for a first-time writer, the memoir was a brutal and lyrical depiction of growing up on a Minnesota farm during the 1980s.
"I've always been a person who has stories going on in my head," Helget said. "And one time, I decided to try to write them. It worked out well."
As is the case for most writers, there are always other inhabitants occupying space alongside day-to-day thoughts. Call it escapism, call it a symptom of heavy daydreaming, but a storyteller always has a story to tell. Helget follows this tradition.
But as a mother of five, finding time to write can be a task in itself. There are always five lunches to be made, five baths to procure and five minds to occupy. Helget said it can be struggle to come across even nuggets of time for her writing
In the middle of her busy schedule as mother, teacher and writer, however, Helget said she lets her stories incubate. And sometimes whole tales will play out in her head before she has time to write them down.
"A story or sentence about a particular person will send me into an imaginative array," Helget said.
The time needed for a book can also be a matter of nonfiction verses fiction.
The "Summer of Ordinary Ways" memoir took Helget nine months to write. Her new novel, "The Turtle Catcher," took her the better part of four years.
"When you're writing about yourself, you know the material, but fiction takes a lot more thought," Helget said.
The new book is about two misfits trying to come together in the World War I era. The characters' tales are one of inner conflict as well as a community conflict that unfolds around them.
Drevlow, Helget and Nutter come back to MSU with the experience of life embedded into their writing and have the promise of beginnings, which is not lost on the community that nurtured their creative roots.
"Really, all three of these people are powerful writers for different reasons," Robbins said. "They each have personal voices."
Leah Christensen is a Reporter staff writer
Now, a few of these writers get a chance to come back to MSU and show off what they've done with their knowledge.
MSU alumni Benjamin Drevlow, Nicole Helget and Jude Nutter are featured in the first Good Thunder Reading series for the spring term. They'll give a talk on craft at 3 p.m. today in Ostrander Auditorium and read from their published work at 7:30 p.m. in Centennial Student Union 253.
"All three of them worked really hard when they were here and set an example for others," said Richard Robbins, director of the Good Thunder series and an English professor. "Now they published books and we like to bring them back to showcase what they've done."
Coming back is important for the writers as well. The chance to once again walk along old stomping grounds is a significant moment in their post-graduate lives, and for similar reasons.
"Mankato feels like more of a home to me than where I grew up," Drevlow said. "I have more connections, I have more attachment and familiarity."
Drevlow said teaching and writing along with his fellow MFA students felt like a diverse family to which he couldn't help but feel attached to. The shared moments of artistic highs and lows is a considerable part of the writing program experience.
"We were thrust together to suffer humility, revel in success and embrace all our flaws, tics, anxieties and mania," Drevlow said.
A 2006 graduate, Drevlow now has a teaching job at the University of Wisconsin Â- Whitewater. Having time to reflect upon his years at MSU, he considers the period to be some of the most meaningful years of his life and draws from the experience as he caters to his current writing and teaching careers.
Drevlow isn't alone.
"I love this community. The writers here take care of each other," said Helget, who lives with her husband and five children in North Mankato. "It's been the warmest environment, as a writer, I could hope for."
Helget's debut book, "Summer of Ordinary Ways," was the recipient of a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers honor. An immense success for a first-time writer, the memoir was a brutal and lyrical depiction of growing up on a Minnesota farm during the 1980s.
"I've always been a person who has stories going on in my head," Helget said. "And one time, I decided to try to write them. It worked out well."
As is the case for most writers, there are always other inhabitants occupying space alongside day-to-day thoughts. Call it escapism, call it a symptom of heavy daydreaming, but a storyteller always has a story to tell. Helget follows this tradition.
But as a mother of five, finding time to write can be a task in itself. There are always five lunches to be made, five baths to procure and five minds to occupy. Helget said it can be struggle to come across even nuggets of time for her writing
In the middle of her busy schedule as mother, teacher and writer, however, Helget said she lets her stories incubate. And sometimes whole tales will play out in her head before she has time to write them down.
"A story or sentence about a particular person will send me into an imaginative array," Helget said.
The time needed for a book can also be a matter of nonfiction verses fiction.
The "Summer of Ordinary Ways" memoir took Helget nine months to write. Her new novel, "The Turtle Catcher," took her the better part of four years.
"When you're writing about yourself, you know the material, but fiction takes a lot more thought," Helget said.
The new book is about two misfits trying to come together in the World War I era. The characters' tales are one of inner conflict as well as a community conflict that unfolds around them.
Drevlow, Helget and Nutter come back to MSU with the experience of life embedded into their writing and have the promise of beginnings, which is not lost on the community that nurtured their creative roots.
"Really, all three of these people are powerful writers for different reasons," Robbins said. "They each have personal voices."
Leah Christensen is a Reporter staff writer
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