Through the English Department’s Annual Greyfriar Living Literature Series, Siena students and faculty had the opportunity to meet and speak to Jaimee Wriston Colbert regarding her published works, her process of writing fiction, and the importance of setting in writing, on Wednesday, November 6 and Thursday, November 7.
Currently, Colbert is a professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Binghamton. She received her Masters degree from Brown University and her Bachelors from University of Washington. Colbert is the author of six award-winning books of fiction: Vanishing Acts, Finalist for the 2018 American Fiction Prize and the Indie Excellence Award in Literary Fiction; Wild Things, winner of the CNY 2017 Book Award in Fiction and the 2018 International Book Award in Fiction-Short Stories; Shark Girls, winner of the IPPY Gold Medal Award for story collections, Climbing the God Tree, winner of the Willa Cather Fiction Prize; and Sex, Salvation, and the Automobile, winner of the Zephyr Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Gettysburg Review, New Letters, and Prairie Schooner, and broadcast on “Selected Shorts.” She was awarded the 2012 Ian MacMillan Fiction Prize for “Things Blow Up,” a story in Wild Things. Other stories won the Jane’s Stories Award and the Isotope Editor’s Fiction Prize.
Colbert delivered Siena's Greyfriar Living Literature Series reading and signed many students' books. Colbert connected with many Saints by visiting various writing classes during her two-day stay, including an Introduction to Creative Writing class led by Karin Lin-Greenberg, Ph.D. Students who attended Colbert’s workshop titled, “How to Write descriptions and Create a Sense of Place” received tips and tricks Colbert learned throughout her years of writing, such as to “write for all the senses” and the importance of creating a mood or atmosphere in writing. Members of the Siena community were also invited to work on a guided writing exercise to practice evoking a sense of place in writing. Students shared their exercises and were given feedback by Colbert.
While attending high school in Honolulu, where she was born and raised, she realized she could write. After majoring in English at the University of Washington and receiving her Masters degree in Creative Writing at Brown University, she knew writing novels was her passion. Many of her novels are set in Hawaii and she explains that writing about nature and her appreciation for being raised in a place where she could go out and explore almost all of the time, was her way of dealing with homesickness. Colbert encourages students who want to become a better writer to read, of course, but also to be an observer and to be open to experiences. She explains that “a lot of things can be stories,” even the small everyday things. For students who do not particularly love to write, she encourages them to “approach each page as something fresh, and to avoid that inner critic.” Some writers that inspires Colbert include Toni Morrison, Thomas Wolfe, and Flannery O’Connor.
Siena students have many opportunities to interact with acclaimed writers, such as Colbert. The School of Liberal Arts prioritizes giving the Siena community first hand experiences in order to enhance the work that they’re doing in the classroom.
