“It's always beneficial to hear another writer talk about his/her writing life, what inspires and motivates people to write. The reading was also very enjoyable, and both events taken together, you came away with an "insight" about Kent Haruf the person, and Kent Haruf the writer, and how these two sides inform his books.”
—L.Schwebach, Writers on the Plains participant.
Kent Haruf presented at Colorado State University on October 20, 2005 at 7:30 pm in the Lory Student Center East Ballroom. He shared his work on October 21, 2005 at 7:30 pm in the Eaton High School Auditorium, and he led a discussion on writing techniques on October 22, 2005 at 11:00 am at the Eaton Public Library.
View these videos of readings by Kent Haruf. (Requires Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player)
Thursday, October 20, 2005, at Colorado State University; Introduction by Judy Doenges (62 minutes)
Friday, November 5, 2004, at the Writers Harvest; Introduction by Judy Doenges (49 minutes)
A self-proclaimed "ministry brat," fiction writer Kent Haruf grew up in eastern Colorado, where his novels are set. He studied literature at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, where he would later teach. He took graduate courses at the University of Kansas and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he studied with John Irving, Vance Bourjaily, Dan Wakefield, and others. For two years he taught English in Turkey as a member of the Peace Corps. He was 41 before his first piece of fiction was published, in Puerto del Sol. His most recent novels are Eventide and Plainsong (both from Knopf), the latter of which won the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award and was a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The New Yorker Book Award. His novel The Tie That Binds (Vintage) received a Whiting Foundation Award and a special citation from the Pen/Hemingway Foundation. Haruf is also the author of Where You Once Belonged (Vintage). Kent Haruf retired from his teaching position at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and now lives with his wife, Cathy, in Salida, Colorado. Of the great popularity of his work, Haruf says, "I’ve been around long enough to know that this is in part a matter of luck. I don’t think it’s turned my head. Fame is very seductive and can be very dangerous if you’re trying to get your work done."
Kent Haruf's work is currently available at the CSU Bookstore.