Porter sheds light on suburban life

Professor pens 10 short stories in his new book "The Theory of Light and Matter"

By: Yvonne Freckmann

Posted: 10/24/08

"He has such a rich voice, and I think it's going to be an enormous success," said Victoria Aarons, professor and chair of the English Department. "The stories really speak to the generations of the turn of yet another century. It really creates what it means to be in America for a generation of people coming of age."

Andrew Porter, assistant professor of English, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction from the University of Georgia Press for his recently published short story collection, "The Theory of Light and Matter."
Porter read some of his short stories yesterday evening in the Holt Center, after a book signing and reception.

The author, who is in his fifth year teaching fiction writing, made time for a conversation about the short stories, as did some of his readers.

The book of 10 short stories appeared in stores on Oct. 15, and in them Porter explores the trend of American suburbia and how it changed since the '50s and '60s. He also depicts the ways that people reconstruct memory and try to come to terms with past events: the role memory plays in our lives, and how it affects storytelling.

"Oftentimes I and writers try to escape their childhood and write other things," Porter said. "But in the end that story is important and comes back in your fiction."

Having grown up in suburban Lancaster, Penn., Porter said he tended to veer away from that type of setting as an undergraduate. But with time he became interested in exploring the world of his childhood, and stories in this setting tended to be more successful and resonate more with readers, Porter said.

"You have to love [writing] because it's a difficult life," Porter said. "A lot of times people romanticize the writer's life ... it is a lot of work."

His own story of becoming a writer began with exploration of music, music writing, art, painting and filmmaking.

"I knew I always wanted to do something artistic with my life," Porter said. "I took a creative writing class in college for fun, and my professor at that time was very encouraging, and it was the first time someone really encouraged me with something artistic I did. And I thought, 'maybe I can do this.' The more I read contemporary fiction, I got hooked on it."

To organize the newly published collection, Porter started with 17 stories and looked for how they were related, narrowing them down so they felt consistent both tonally and thematically.

Something he stresses with his student writers is the importance of being honest and having something at stake in their writing, taking risks.

"Our storytelling instincts are more sophisticated than we sometimes think. We grew up hearing stories, watching TV," Porter said.

Director of Trinity University Press Barbara Ras read the short stories as soon as they came out. Some she had read before, but she enjoyed the collection.

Having worked at the University of Georgia Press for six years before coming to Trinity, Ras is familiar with the award Porter received.

"I was thrilled to get the news that he won the Flannery O'Connor Award. It's a hugely significant award," Ras said. "It's very, very competitive, and it's an award that has launched the careers of many."

Former recipients include Ha Jin, who has published a number of novels and has since won the national book award; and Antonya Nelson, who has written books of great acclaim and short fiction for "The New Yorker."

Ras also described Porter as a "master of dialogue," and commented how he uses it to reveal character and advances the story.

"There is a strong sensibility to his work that is based on intelligence and a deep feeling for the mysteries and inscrutabilities of life," said Ras. "[Porter] is a remarkable stylist. His writing is original. He has style that is apparently serene but underneath that smooth surface momentous things happen."

Aarons, too, spoke of her excitement of the "first rate" work Porter produced.

The characters are "real people" talking about issues of loss, love, longing and identity, Aarons said, and entering this world was an enriching experience.

"They are characters who reflect on their own lives and sort of talk their way through their lives," Aarons said. "Their experiences are real and their voices are real."

Short stories have to be concise and thus have a kind of immediacy and urgency to them, she said, and Porter's stories have that quality. Aarons considers Porter an excellent teacher and asset to the department, and the creative dialogue that happens there.

"I think he's going to be a very important new voice in American fiction, and he's working on a novel," Aarons said. "You step momentarily into the lives of these characters and it's a pleasure to be there."

For more information, visit www.andrewporterwriter.com.