Bryan Washington, the author of “Lot: Stories,” discussed his experience writing about his hometown of Houston with Syracuse University students Wednesday night in Gifford Auditorium.

Washington came to SU as a part of the Raymond Carver Reading Series. The program brings 12 to 14 prominent writers to the university as part of the class English 107 – Living Writers. Students in the class read prominent writers’ work, and then the authors come to campus to speak about their writing and experiences.

The class rotates between recitations, where students unpack the texts that they are assigned, and talks from speakers like Washington. Students were assigned to read “Lot: Stories,” one of The New York Times’ top books of 2019, for class.

Sarah Harwell is the associate director of the creative writing program at SU and has been the coordinator of the Living Writers course since 2007. She said that throughout the course, she looks to bring a diverse group of authors who have different styles of writing to speak and do live readings of their work for students.

“You have a voice in your head when you read it, but when you actually hear the author, it’s a different experience,” she said.

Washington spoke about his short story collection “Lot: Stories” and how he worked to make the culture in Houston significant to readers all around the world.

“What I appreciate about Houston is that there’s a warmth amongst the population and a sort of general care for the well-being as your neighbors, which shouldn’t be as significant as it is,” Washington said.

Washington’s work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, BuzzFeed, GQ and other publications. The Houston native is also a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 recipient and has won the O. Henry Award, which is given to exceptional short stories.

Washington said he couldn’t picture the book taking place anywhere besides Houston. Even though he believes stories are written based on personal experiences, he said that the book wasn’t based on his own life.

“He writes beautiful stories about a neighborhood in Houston that are allowing us to see a whole neighborhood and all the people that are living in it,” Harwell said. “And it’s a really beautiful expression.”

Washington said he decided to publish a collection of short stories because he didn’t feel like he was ready to write a novel at the time he wrote “Lot: Stories.” He has since written a full book titled “Memorial,” which will come out on Oct. 6.

Former President Barack Obama put “Lot: Stories” on his list of top books in 2019. When Washington learned this, he said he thought it was a “meticulous joke.”

“It’s endlessly fascinating to me that so many people have read this book,” Washington said. “I thought that three of my friends who live in Houston would read it, and then one would, like halfway not even read it and then tell me that they did.”

Published on February 27, 2020 at 12:08 am

Contact Sydney: sabergan@syr.edu