WEBVTT

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thanks, Hannah.

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And thank you all for coming
out tonight to the first Prose

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Series event of the semester.

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We have another Prose Series
event coming up on March 26

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at 7:00 PM.

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Our own Elizabeth Evans, reading
from her amazing new novel

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from Bloomsbury,
As Good As Dead.

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And I've gotten to
read an advance copy,

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and it's so heartbreaking.

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March 26, so set that
down on your calendars.

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We're so lucky tonight to
have a special Prose Series

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event with Willy Vlautin.

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He comes to Tucson
from Scappoose, Oregon.

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He flew in yesterday with his
amazing girlfriend, Lee Posey.

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It's not easy for
them to travel,

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because they have to leave
behind their very large family

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of three horses, Hugo,
Dash, and Jasper,

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and their dog, Georgia, and
the cat, whose name I can never

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remember, who's a lovely cat.

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But we're really lucky
that they took the time

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and made the effort
to come here,

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because that's a lot of
animals to leave behind.

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Willy's going to
read to us tonight

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from his critically
acclaimed novel, The Free.

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Of The Free, he says, "I
wanted to write about nursing,

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and the long-term effects
of taking care of soldiers

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with brain injuries.

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It took me a few years
to do it," he said,

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and this is an interview
with The Wall Street Journal.

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I think it actually
probably took

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a lifetime to write this novel.

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Because to write
a novel like this,

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you have to really have
lived, and really have felt,

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really have experienced
something profound

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to write a novel that has
as much heart as The Free.

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I really can't imagine
how hard it must

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have been to write this novel.

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And every time I read
it, I'm just floored

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and a little bit shattered.

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But it's also a novel
with hope, with characters

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who need hope more than
almost anybody else.

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And if you've been to
a donut shop lately,

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a Safeway, a paint
store, or a hospital,

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maybe you've walked
down 4th Avenue,

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as you guys did today, and
walked by some teen runaways,

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you've walked among the
characters in The Free,

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or in any Willy Vlautin novel.

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Or maybe you have a
cousin or a sister

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who came back recently from
fighting a war, not quite

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themselves.

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My students and me were
discussing in the last week

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how strongly we all
identify with the characters

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in The Free.

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We just see ourselves in
them, and in the novel's

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political and ethical roots.

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It just has great compassion,
Willy Vlautin's art form.

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He was born and raised
in Reno, Nevada.

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Now you get the data, right?

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So we had to provide that.

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He started playing
guitar and writing songs

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as a teenager, which
I wish I had done,

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and quickly became
immersed in music.

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And it was a Paul
Kelly song based

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on Raymond Carver's short story,
which some of you might know,

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So Much Water So Close
To Home, that inspired

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him to begin writing fiction.

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He's published four novels
to date, The Motel Life,

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Northline, Lean On
Pete, and The Free.

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And his books have
been translated

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into French, Spanish,
Italian, Romanian, Korean,

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German, and Swedish,
among other languages.

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And among his awards are
the Silver Pen Award,

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in Nevada, the Ken Kesey Award.

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In Oregon, Lean On
Pete was shortlisted

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for the prestigious
Impact Award in Scotland.

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And The Free is a current
shortlisted finalist

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for the really wonderful and
prestigious Oregon Book Award--

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a great list, and
really competitive,

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and just a really
great prize in a state

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that values readers and books
because it rains so much.

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What else are you going to
do but brush your horses

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and read your books, right?

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[LAUGHTER]

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Willy Vlautin's also in a great
band called Richmond Fontaine.

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I think there are
nine records so far,

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with another one in
production right now,

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and then a new band
called The Delines

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which is just wonderful,
absolutely amazing, been

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widely reviewed.

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You should check them out.

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And that band features
the vocalist Amy Boone

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from The Damnations,
really cool band also.

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This event is proudly
co-sponsored by the Program

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in Creative Writing, the
Department of English,

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the Convergences Series in
the Department of English,

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the College of Social
and Behavioral Sciences,

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the Medical Humanities,
Poets and Writers Magazine,

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and Fairy Tale Review.

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And if that sounds like a
strange group of bedfellows,

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I don't think it will seem as
strange when you hear excerpts

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from The Free tonight.

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The College of Social
and Behavioral Sciences

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is also called, I think,
this is new to me,

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the College of the People?

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Is that right?

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The People College?

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Well, the College of the
People works, too, right?

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And I think you could
think of Willy Vlautin

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as the novelist of the people.

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The people novelist
doesn't quite

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have a good ring
of the bell to it.

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But his people really are us.

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I mean, this seems like a
really glorified and privileged

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setting we're in right now,
but we each have our struggles.

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We each bring to this
room all kinds of needs

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and all kinds of favors.

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And, I think that
right now we're

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really so lucky to have
the favor of hearing Willy

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Vlautin read from The Free.

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So please join me, people,
in welcoming Willy Vlautin

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to town.

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[APPLAUSE]