“…Do not shun the darker side of nature. Look for it in marshes, in the slime of the sea, amid plagues of insects, and remember that hidden behind these phenomena there is beauty, just as in loveliness there is unloveliness…Search out both beauty and its opposite, and define them, learn to know and to see them.”

We love writing that is able to balance darkness with lightness, bleakness with hopefulness, and that is ultimately rich with contrast. Therefore, it’s no surprise we are incredibly excited to learn that Melanie Rae Thon will be reading at the 4th Annual Gina Berriault Award Reading on Wednesday, May2nd at 7:00 pm in the Poetry Center (Humanities Building, room 512). Thon is an author who perfectly embodies the Stanislavski quote in her writing. She is not afraid of depicting violent or hurt characters who stab, rape, murder and steal, but she balances out these gritty portrayals by imbuing her characters with the ability to make tender professions of love and to connect with others in beautiful, unexpected ways.

 

The author of four novels, including Voice of the River and Sweet Hearts, Melanie has been published in Best American Short Stories (1995, 1996), Pushcart Prize Anthologies (2003, 2006, 2008), and O. Henry Prize Stories (2006), among many others. She is the winner of a Whiting Writer’s Award, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Writer’s Residency from the Lannan Foundation, and a fellowship from the Tanner Humanities Center. Melanie Rae Thon is also a dedicated professor in the Creative Writing and Environmental Humanities programs at the University of Utah, where she divides readings for her students between “science, spiritual texts, and literature.”

 

 

Her most recent novel, The Voice of the River, is a triumphant tapestry woven from multiple viewpoints. Each character, from a small homeless child to a baker from prison, is a “survivor,” one of a community of people who have loved and lost, and whose thoughts merge together to whirl around the sudden disappearance of a young boy and his dog.  In this novel and in all of her work, Melanie Rae Thon is not afraid to explore the bleaker side of existence. However, she is also not afraid to show us there is always love and hope, and the world itself will never stop being filled with a beauty so resplendent that it inspires near-spiritual contemplation.

 

We hope that you will join us in the Poetry Center on May 2nd to listen to Ms. Thon read, speak, and answer your questions. We couldn’t be more excited, and we hope you feel the same. Don’t forget to RSVP to the event here!

 

 

 

Stephanie Doeing

Fiction Editor