Dan Simmons ’70 at Wabash
Bestselling novelist and author of the Hugo-Award winning Hyperion series Dan Simmons ’70 returned to Wabash this week to work with students in the College's creative writing program and to discuss his work with the Wabash community.
Simmons talks with students in Professor Eric Freeze's Advanced Fiction Workshop on the novel. Simmons said: I’m not interested in the message of a book, which tends to be something that is time-bound, but something that is wise, whether it is in a poem or a novel.
Ian Grant listens to Simmons as the author workshops, line by line and word by word, the first chapter of Grant's draft of a novel.
Professor Eric Freeze and Simmons enjoy a brief debate over whether or not the short story is a training ground for the novelist.
The friendly debate continues…
Simmons acts out a line from his short story Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell.
Karen Simmons and Alison Kothe enjoy Simmons' reading.
Grayson Swaim ’12 enjoys Simmons observations in the Advanced Fiction Workshop. Simmons said: Writers need to read, and read widely. That's why I think Wabash is the best preparation for writing in the world.
President Pat White takes in Simmons' reading.
Professor Rixa Freeze enjoys a lighter moment during Simmons' reading.
Associate Dean of Students Will Oprisko talks with Simmons during the author's book signing.
Simmons catches up with classmate and Professor of Religion David Blix ’70.
Simmons chats with classmate Dave Ault ’70. About his latest novel, Flashback, Simmons said: My idea was to take an unpopular topic and push it as far as I could.
Simmons talks about his student days at Wabash and the support Dean Norman Moore gave him at one of the most difficult moments of his life. Simmons said: When I was younger I determined I would never be loyal to any organization or institution. That exception to that is Wabash College, which is the one place I love and will love for the rest of my life.
Karen Simmons enjoys talking with students.
Simmons signs books in the Salter Lobby following his reading. On the motivation for his writing the book Drood, which portrays Charles Dickens' final days, Simmons said: I had a rapprochement with Dickens, who I hated for years, and I decided, if I’m going to like him, I better learn about him, I’ll write a novel about him.
Professor Freeze interviews Simmons during Tuesday's craft talk. Simmons said: One of the great differences between someone who can write a good tale that may last a while and an amateur, or what amateurs don’t quite understand, is something [Game of Thrones author] George R. R. Martin, who is a chess master, pointed out. When they began to program computers to play chess, they learned something important about the human mind. Chess masters aren’t like the IBM chess programs—trying to crunch two million possibilities and prioritize the top four. A chessmaster only sees the best three or four best moves, so has a very small set of choices, and that actually begins to happen when you’re a writer. I’m playing a movie in my head, and after awhile I don’t go down too many false avenues.
Simmons said: Of course, the most important thing is to get it into words. if you’re a visual artist, you can sculpt, paint, weld iron—maybe 100 different media you can use. But as a writer you only have one medium—one, which is language, words. That’s where much of the learning is for a young writer, the nuts and bolts, every word and sentence.
Simmons said: So that’s the real interaction. Between the movie I am running in my head and the words—often I may see three of four alternative ways to the scene, but you have to know which one can be best described in words for the reader.
Asked his favorite of his own books, Simmons named Phases of Gravity, his 1989 mainstream novel recently reprinted, for the first time in hardback.
Simmons talks with The Bachelor's Taylor Kenyon ’13. Simmons was a teacher for 18 years before becoming a full-time writer. Simmons said: The most creative thing I ever did was creating APEX (a district-wide program for smart kids) It was the most creative thing I’ve done, more so than any book I’ve written.
Taylor Kenyon interviews Simmons in the Caleb Mills House. Simmons said: I’m usually 40-60 pages into a novel before it comes alive. I call it the quickening.
Simmons pauses for a moment in the Caleb Mills House before an interview for the Wabash Web site.