Luck & Grit: Building a Lifelong Writing Practice with National Book Award Finalist Patricia Henley
EMERGING WRITERS:
How much of your literary success depends on luck? How much depends on grit? How can you build a life around a sustained writing practice, and find fulfillment in the journey along the way? And how does community play into it?
With a writing career that spans over 50 years, award-winning Patricia Henley has seen it all. She's found her voice, and navigated industry changes and rejection, all while maintaining a sustained commitment for the writing process. Come to Hugo House May 19th for a reading from her new story collection, Apple & Palm, and discussion with Seattle writer Caitlin M. Andrews as they investigate tricks, tips, and nuggets of wisdom for establishing and sustaining a lifelong writing career. Book purchase and signing to follow, with the gracious support of Elliot Bay Books!
âIn the town of Whistle Pig, people are living their lives. Characters recur in Patricia Henleyâs latest. For example, Jill Zebrak, who in one story regularly retrieves her elderly father from the local casino and mildly tolerates his lover who is closer in age to her than him, appears in another story where she takes in two young girls after their parents die in a murder-suicide. Yet Henleyâs collection is not bleak: There is a vibrant artist colony in Whistle Pig, amorous octogenarians, and a true sense of community. What Henley does best is describe how small-town life has both a frustrating insularity and inescapable points of connection. Apple & Palm looks at the ways we live and the choices we make not only for our own survival, but also for the survival of the people who surround us.âÂ
-Electric Lit Review
Caitlin Andrews
Caitlin M. Andrews (she/they) holds a fully-funded MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Miami. Her words can be found in Electric Literature, Short Ădition, New Square, the Waterproof Anthology, The New Limestone Review, and elsewhere, and sheâs received support from GrubStreet, Hugo House, and Sancho Panza Literary Society. Caitlinâs novel-in-progress is a braided queer historical adventure set during the Irish War for Independence. Her novel was just longlisted for the Masters Review Novel Excerpt Contest, and was selected as a semi-finalist for a 2021 Fulbright Scholarship in Research to Ireland. Find them fangirling about hiking, Twilight memes, and the Irish language on IG at edgarallenbro_.
Patricia Henley
Patricia Henleyâs fifth collection of short stories, Apple & Palm, is forthcoming from
Cornerstone Press in 2026. She is the author of three novels, five collections of stories,
two chapbooks of poetry, and a stage play. Her first novel, Hummingbird House, was a
finalist for The National Book Award and The New Yorker Fiction Prize. Haywire Books
published a 20th Anniversary Edition of Hummingbird House in November, 2019. Her
short fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, Ploughshares, The Boston Globe Sunday
Magazine, and other journals. Her first collection of stories, Friday Night at Silver Star
(Graywolf), won the Montana First Book Award. Her work has been anthologized in Best
American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, Circle of Women, The Last Best
Place, and other anthologies. For 26 years she taught in the MFA Program in Creative
Writing at Purdue University. She teaches a monthly Zoom workshop for women writers
and lives in Kingston, Washington.
