This summer, we’re thrilled to host fiction writer Nickolas Butler as on of our four Priory Writers’ Retreat writers-in residence! When you are accepted into The Priory, you’ll have the option to schedule a personal one-on-one session with Nick!
Nickolas Butler is the internationally-acclaimed author of several books of fiction, including Godspeed, Little Faith, The Hearts of Men, Shotgun Lovesongs, and the short story collection, Beneath the Bonfires. He is the winner of France's prestigious PAGE Prix America, the 2014 Great Lakes Great Reads Award, the 2014 Midwest Independent Booksellers Award, the 2015 Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award, the 2015 UW-Whitewater Chancellor's Regional Literary Award, and has been long-listed for the 2014 Flaherty Dunnan Award for First Novel and short-listed for France's FNAC Prix.
Read on for a mini-interview with Nick!
1.) As our longest serving writer-in-residence, what do you appreciate most about the CVWG retreats?
This is easy to answer. I love the folks who travel from around the world to Eau Claire to improve their craft. I really do. I've formed friendships with many of these students and writers and I treasure our time together. Writing is often a lonely endeavor, but when you can sit down and simply talk books with other people who appreciate stories and poem and essays as much as I do, well, it's very therapeutic, very enjoyable.
2.) Can you share a bit about a mentor or writing experience that helped shape your own work?
“But for me, the best mentors teach us about life, and about this mystery of becoming a good and decent human being.”
I often think of my first workshop-teacher at the Iowa, the great James Alan McPherson. Jim was an incredible soul, and it's true true that he taught me a great deal about the craft of writing. But for me, the best mentors teach us about life, and about this mystery of becoming a good and decent human being. Jim often asked me as much about my wife and young son as he did about my craft. And what I took away from our conversations was that while writing was a craft and to an extent, an obsession, we both shared, what was paramount ultimately, was our relationships.
3.) What are you reading these days?
I'm reading a stack of unpublished novels, to be honest. But prior to that I enjoyed reading THE LINE THAT HELD US by David Joy and LOST IN SUMMERLAND by Barrett Swanson.
Bonus: Can you share a bit about your walks? Do they spur creativity, or are they simply a chance to leave the working world behind for a bit?
Candidly, writing is a very sedentary activity. Long walks are my most regular form of exercise, but I also believe walking is a good activity for writers because the real stuff happens away from our computers. Take a walk and you'll interact with the world, with nature, with other human beings in a totally improvisational sort of way. This can only be good for the writing.