Award-Winning Author Visits Chinquapin, Houston

Stanford University professor emeritus, Tobias Wolff, made quite a splash during his Houston stay and proved to be an approachable, witty guest.

This award-winning American short story writer, memoirist, novelist, and teacher of creative writing toured campus before taking to the stage for a presentation on his writing process. His advice for aspiring writers was to be disciplined, to write every day.

Wolff took a shine to our high school students whose intelligent questions about his memoir, This Boy’s Life, as well as his short stories. including Bullet In the Brain, provided Wolff the opportunity to shed more light on his inner life.

He then enjoyed a lively discussion during lunch with a small group of enthusiastic students who peppered him with more questions. By the end of lunch, they were exchanging photos of their pets and sharing personal stories. Students walked away energized and a bit starstruck.

Back in Houston, after an evening cocktail reception in Rice University’s Woodson Courtyard, Wolff spoke on memoir vs. fiction. Through a reading from his novel, Old School, he tells of the impact of Robert Frost’s visit to his boarding school. We shall have to wait and see what Chinquapin graduate writes of Wolff’s visit to campus, but it’s bound to happen!

We give great thanks to the small but mighty committee who made Wolff’s quick tour of the Bayou City a success!