SLU Writers Series: Daphne Kalotay
“I think that when you love something, you just find a way to do it,” said Daphne Kalotay, an award-winning author who visited St. Lawrence University. After graduating college with a degree in psychology, Kalotay realized what she wanted to do was study creative writing. So, she went back to school, got a Ph.D., and started writing novels.
For her Writer’s Series presentation, Kalotay read from her Grace Paley Prize-winning book, “The Archivists,” which is a specific collection of stories explained by her as puzzle pieces connecting the concepts. It has the common theme of archivists, how we store memories, and how they affect us. “I wrote the title story based on a prompt that I was given for an art exhibit,” said Kalotay as she explained how the idea for the book came to life. The exhibit was looking for a literary component and asked Kalotay for help. “It had to do with the way memory is being affected by digital media, and I started thinking about memory as archives,” she said.
Kalotay read “Heart-Scalded,” a story that was inspired by a prompt given to her by a dying friend. She explained how her friend was sick and wanted her to write a story about her ex and her, but Kalotay could not bring herself to write it. She related her struggle with the prompt to classroom assignments, saying that sometimes you’re given the prompt, and something entirely different comes out on the paper. Instead, her friend’s idea encouraged her to write “Heart-Scalded,” the story of a woman seeing her ex and his new girlfriend at a Halloween party. Kalotay described this story as an ode to what we hold inside ourselves and cannot give up.
The reality shown through Kalotay’s writing is heart-wrenching and quirky. The story was written and read more as a series of interactions than a story with a beginning, middle and end. This is no accident, as Kalotay explained the way she writes is purposeful. “I want the reader to believe,” she said. After the reading, Kalotay answered a plethora of different questions from eager students and gave thoughtful advice to all. She described her writing process as she hears or sees an idea and wants to capture the image. “We talk about turning truth into fiction,” answered Kalotay, describing her style.
Additionally, Kalotay described how she decided to make smaller, artistic choices in her writing. Her short story, “Heart-Scalded,” was written in a close third-person narrative. As she read the story to the crowd, every so often, there would be a slight hint that the main character was sick. Slowly, the audience learns through small context and interpretation that the character is struggling with cancer. Kalotay said that she does this on purpose because she wants to represent what is true from the perspective of the narrator. This artistic choice captures the audience and provokes curiosity in them.
Students and teachers alike were grateful for the author coming to speak at the university. “I think that was really cool for aspiring writers to see how it’s done and to talk to someone who’s actually in the business,” said Jenne Heerkens ’27, after attending the reading. Although Heerkens is not interested in writing creatively herself, she understands the importance of hosting authors. “I think it’s good to have writers come in,” she said and commented on how kind it was of Kalotay to describe her writing process and answer questions. “There’s something really nice about being read to,” said Sarah Barber, an associate professor in the English Department and coordinator of the Writer’s Series program this year, after watching the presentation.