Walking around Kenyon I also noticed, with some concern, posters bearing my picture. A friend had gotten me invited to speak as part of the Kenyon Review’s “Writers on Writing” series. I had never been published in the esteemed quarterly (thankfully, I had not submitted anything in years), and now I was scheduled to address students and faculty in its dollhouse offices. In the Cheever Room. On the campus where David Foster Wallace gave his now famous commencement address (copies of which were for sale in the college bookstore). I strolled the gravel paths nervously going over my lines.
About 25 people sat expectantly in the bright Cheever Room at the back of the Review’s offices. I began by reading the opening of an essay of mine from The Wilson Quarterly (as a sign that I was quarterly-worthy). Then I spoke for about 30 minutes on the three steps in writing a travel story: preparation before the trip, legwork while on site, and writing. I talked about the important elements: movement, personal voice, point of view, imagination, humor. And I mentioned how most of my time in front of the computer screen is not spent writing but rewriting. I quoted Paddy Chayevsky – “I’m not a great writer, but I’m a great rewriter” – but forgot Andre Gide: “I rewrite in order to be reread.”
The talk was well-received, which made me feel good (I hadn’t embarrassed my friend). But later it occurred to me that a travel writer speaking in an academic setting benefits from a remarkably low bar. If you don’t talk about frequent flyer strategies and the top 10 European hotels, you can almost come off sounding intellectual.
