The Hidden Machinery: The Art of Writing
A Conversation with Margot Livesey
Thursday, 25 Apr 2019 at 2:10 pm – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union
Join students and faculty in the Creative Writing Program for this informal moderated craft talk. Writers will have the opportunity to ask questions and hear author Margot Livesey discuss her writing process. Livesey is the award-winning author of ten books, including a collection of stories, Learning by Heart, and eight acclaimed novels: Homework, Criminals, The Missing World, Eva Moves the Furniture, Banishing Verona, The House on Fortune Street, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, and Mercury, which was named a Best Book of 2016 by Kirkus Reviews and Barnes & Noble. Her most recent book is a collection of essays on the art of writing, The Hidden Machinery. Pearl Hogrefe Visiting Writers SeriesPraise for The Hidden Machinery:
"There is no finer teacher of writing in America than Margot Livesey. The young writer who spends an hour with Livesey leaves with pockets filled with nuggets of her sly intuitions. To have an entire book of her wit, wisdom and constructive suggestions is to possess the mother lode.†James Magnuson, Director of the Michener Center for Writers
Margot Livesey grew up in a boys’ private school in the Scottish Highlands, where her father taught and her mother was the school nurse. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and currently teaches at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Cosponsored By:
- MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment
- Pearl Hogrefe Fund
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
Stay for the entire event, including the brief question-and-answer session that follows the formal presentation. Most events run 75 minutes.
Sign-ins are after the event concludes. For lectures in the Memorial Union, go to the information desk in the Main Lounge. In other academic buildings, look for signage outside the auditorium.
Lecture Etiquette
- Stay for the entire lecture and the brief audience Q&A. If a student needs to leave early, he or she should sit near the back and exit discreetly.
- Do not bring food or uncovered drinks into the lecture.
- Check with Lectures staff before taking photographs or recording any portion of the event. There are often restrictions. Cell phones, tablets and laptops may be used to take notes or for class assignments.
- Keep questions or comments brief and concise to allow as many as possible.