Thursday evening, a crowd of a few dozen gathered at Tate Hall to listen to readings by Melanie Rae Thon, a highly recognized figure in the world of fiction writing.
Thon read chapters from her most recent novel, “In this Light,” took questions from the audience and touched a bit on how she goes about working on her novels.
“I honestly prefer my own space,” Thon said. “I like to alienate myself as much as possible when I write, because any sort of distractions can really interfere with my writing.”
A native of Montana, Thon works at the University of Utah where she teaches creative writing and environmental humanities.
Her side projects have earned her the most success though. Thon published works in two editions of “Best American Short Stories.” Along with many other awards, Thon also earned several highly sought after writers’ fellowships and residencies.
Thon was twice awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and also received a Writer’s Residency from the Lannan Foundation in 2005.
Thon’s fiction has been published all around the globe and in several languages, including French, Italian, German, Spanish, Croatian, Finnish, Japanese and Farsi.
Thon came to Columbia on Thursday to preview her new book, “In this Light.” Thon, along with various other national-renowned authors, was scheduled to come to the MU campus to present sections of new works to both students and faculty.
The Missouri Review editor Michael Nye introduced Thon, and unbeknownst to her, Nye was actually a student of hers years ago at The Ohio State University.
“Our best teachers stay with us long past our years with them, and Melanie has definitely stuck with me,” Nye said. “She was the first person who taught me how to actually read and write.
Thon then read two chapters of her most recent novel, “In this Light.” One of her seven published works of fiction, her book touches on deep concepts like love, family and death.
“The novel begins at morning twilight and ends at evening twilight,” Thon said. “It only spans the course of one day, but the story is told from several different perspectives.”
Thon also explained how during high school she became interested in writing fiction.
“I got into fiction writing when I was on my high school’s speech and debate teams,” Thon said. “During one prose performance, I read parts of ‘Lady Lazarus’ by Sylvia Plath. I may have seemed crazy to a couple people watching, but that’s when I really fell in love with that style of writing.”
Thon concluded her presentation with a few words of wisdom for the younger generation of aspiring writers.
“See language as music,” said Thon. “If you can understand how deep and beautiful the words you create can be, your writing becomes a lot more enjoyable. It’s also a great way to explore the deeper parts of your conscious and unconscious mind.”
