WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.795 align:middle line:90% 00:00:03.795 --> 00:00:04.295 align:middle line:90% Thanks. 00:00:04.295 --> 00:00:08.010 align:middle line:90% 00:00:08.010 --> 00:00:10.747 align:middle line:84% When you enter Alan Heathcock's world, 00:00:10.747 --> 00:00:12.330 align:middle line:84% you might think at first you've landed 00:00:12.330 --> 00:00:14.730 align:middle line:84% somewhere in the surreal landscape of the 6 o'clock 00:00:14.730 --> 00:00:16.260 align:middle line:90% news. 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:19.260 align:middle line:90% Have a look around. 00:00:19.260 --> 00:00:22.440 align:middle line:84% Borrow an object from one of his most poignant scenes-- 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:24.690 align:middle line:90% a tin bottomed bass boat-- 00:00:24.690 --> 00:00:27.150 align:middle line:90% and step in gingerly. 00:00:27.150 --> 00:00:29.940 align:middle line:84% Hold on tight to the gunnell, ease out 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:32.189 align:middle line:84% the choke, twist the throttle, yank the starter rope 00:00:32.189 --> 00:00:33.780 align:middle line:90% on the outboard. 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:36.660 align:middle line:84% You're moving now through neighborhoods 00:00:36.660 --> 00:00:40.260 align:middle line:84% filled to the eaves with dirty, electrified water. 00:00:40.260 --> 00:00:41.760 align:middle line:84% Keep an eye on those tree branches 00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:43.590 align:middle line:90% just underneath the surface. 00:00:43.590 --> 00:00:46.590 align:middle line:84% Keep an eye on those shell-shocked faces. 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:48.930 align:middle line:84% In this particular world, what you hear 00:00:48.930 --> 00:00:51.600 align:middle line:84% is the Biblical heartbeat that keeps the time 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.130 align:middle line:90% of the American heartland. 00:00:53.130 --> 00:00:54.510 align:middle line:90% It's small towns. 00:00:54.510 --> 00:00:55.455 align:middle line:90% It's rural nooks. 00:00:55.455 --> 00:00:58.860 align:middle line:90% 00:00:58.860 --> 00:01:02.190 align:middle line:84% It is an endlessly revolving system of dualisms, 00:01:02.190 --> 00:01:06.360 align:middle line:90% hard choices, and last chances. 00:01:06.360 --> 00:01:08.400 align:middle line:84% Two men in their trucks will meet toe to toe 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.700 align:middle line:84% in a road each refusing to yield. 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:14.760 align:middle line:84% Another character, grieving for his son, 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.130 align:middle line:84% will give himself a mark of Cain. 00:01:17.130 --> 00:01:19.620 align:middle line:84% And the policewoman, a peacekeeper, 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:21.780 align:middle line:84% will exact justice any way she can in her town 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:25.680 align:middle line:90% before it is all washed away. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:27.390 align:middle line:84% During a flood, tenacious reporters 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:30.660 align:middle line:84% trudge through murky water up to their waist to tell the story. 00:01:30.660 --> 00:01:34.200 align:middle line:84% But the characters in Mr. Heathcock's collection Volt, 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:38.490 align:middle line:84% published by Graywolf, are in up to their necks. 00:01:38.490 --> 00:01:41.340 align:middle line:84% They are clever, conflicted souls making the most of what 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.190 align:middle line:84% they have-- money, time, options-- 00:01:44.190 --> 00:01:46.470 align:middle line:90% which is often very little. 00:01:46.470 --> 00:01:48.690 align:middle line:84% They are stymied, sometimes on all sides, 00:01:48.690 --> 00:01:52.830 align:middle line:84% by circumstances just barely beyond their reach. 00:01:52.830 --> 00:01:55.770 align:middle line:84% And like any rural people worth their salt, 00:01:55.770 --> 00:01:57.540 align:middle line:84% they bear their tragedies with dignity, 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:00.300 align:middle line:84% quiet, and sometimes remorse too. 00:02:00.300 --> 00:02:02.880 align:middle line:90% 00:02:02.880 --> 00:02:05.400 align:middle line:90% That is their beauty. 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:09.720 align:middle line:84% Here's one passage that I love from the story "Fort Apache." 00:02:09.720 --> 00:02:11.820 align:middle line:84% Lonnie and Walt rode in the truck bed 00:02:11.820 --> 00:02:14.025 align:middle line:90% with the bowling balls. 00:02:14.025 --> 00:02:15.900 align:middle line:84% And the back roads were pocked, and the balls 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:17.850 align:middle line:90% caromed against the sidewalls. 00:02:17.850 --> 00:02:20.367 align:middle line:90% Walt and Lonnie laughed-- 00:02:20.367 --> 00:02:22.200 align:middle line:84% Or, Walt and Lonnie laughed warding them off 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:24.450 align:middle line:90% with their boot heels. 00:02:24.450 --> 00:02:26.070 align:middle line:84% There is a frightening, painterly sort 00:02:26.070 --> 00:02:28.008 align:middle line:84% of chaos in these stories, and Mr. Heathcock 00:02:28.008 --> 00:02:29.550 align:middle line:84% has given his characters enough heart 00:02:29.550 --> 00:02:33.450 align:middle line:84% to face it, even if they can't change it. 00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:38.190 align:middle line:84% He's a writer for these populist, perilous times. 00:02:38.190 --> 00:02:42.150 align:middle line:84% Oh, and see, I feel this way, but I can't be the only one. 00:02:42.150 --> 00:02:44.700 align:middle line:90% VOLT was a Best Book of 2011's-- 00:02:44.700 --> 00:02:47.730 align:middle line:84% or, Best Book of 2011 selection by such publications 00:02:47.730 --> 00:02:51.840 align:middle line:84% as GQ, Salon, and the Chicago Tribune. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.978 align:middle line:84% It was also cited as a New York Times editors' choice, 00:02:54.978 --> 00:02:57.270 align:middle line:84% and it was a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover 00:02:57.270 --> 00:02:59.520 align:middle line:90% Prize. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.520 align:middle line:84% Mr. Heathcock has also won the GLCA New Writers 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.850 align:middle line:84% Award, a national magazine award, and a Whiting Award, 00:03:05.850 --> 00:03:07.613 align:middle line:90% just to name a few. 00:03:07.613 --> 00:03:09.030 align:middle line:84% And has been an award of federal-- 00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:11.700 align:middle line:84% or has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment 00:03:11.700 --> 00:03:13.980 align:middle line:84% for the Arts, the Sewanee Writers' 00:03:13.980 --> 00:03:17.910 align:middle line:84% Conference, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. 00:03:17.910 --> 00:03:21.040 align:middle line:84% He's currently a literature fellow for the state of Idaho. 00:03:21.040 --> 00:03:24.210 align:middle line:84% And he teaches fiction writing at Boise State University. 00:03:24.210 --> 00:03:26.697 align:middle line:84% And if that doesn't keep him busy enough, 00:03:26.697 --> 00:03:28.530 align:middle line:84% he has made time to come read for us tonight 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:29.850 align:middle line:90% at the Poetry Center. 00:03:29.850 --> 00:03:32.500 align:middle line:84% It's a pleasure to have him here. 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:35.030 align:middle line:90% Please welcome Alan Heathcock. 00:03:35.030 --> 00:03:37.259 align:middle line:90%