| Summary: | ATURES w^Hv.cord.edu/deDt/concord/f eatures.htm October 31, 2003 Road trippin' writer 'Gravity' author Scott Olsen discusses travel book and writing process Lesley Johnson The Concordian When driving home or perhaps traveling to another destination, most people neglect to stop to appreciate what they are driving by or what they see on the way. Those "minor details" aren't even con-sidered on their journey. W. Scott Olsen, professor of English and editor of Ascent, Concordia's literary journal, has taken this seemingly dull act and used it as an inspiration for his latest book, "Gravity: The Allure of Distance." Olsen's book is a collection of travel essays, or as he put it, "I write about the trip getting there." These road trip essays are all about what Olsen has seen on his trip, who he has talked to and what he has passed along the way. Essays of his travels in New Zealand with one of Concordia's May Seminars are included, but he says they are all about "movement and getting there." Olsen wrote "Gravity: The Allure of Distance" for one main reason. "I have always been a fan of road trips," he said. "They are sim-ply things that interest me, so in my life as a writer I've tried to fol-low the things that I find interesting and most of what's in 'Gravity' is road trips." While traveling, Olsen has a mini tape recorder with him so he can record what he sees, feels or thinks. After he has returned home, the notes he has taken on his mini tape recorder are tran-scribed into a word file that he uses as a rough draft. Then the real work takes place. "I'll see something in my notes," Olsen explains, "and I'll go do some research to figure out what that thing really is; so there's a lot of context [and] a lot of background and history [to] what is it you're really seeing." This work allows Olsen to expand and deepen his essays. The temptation to embellish his stories may be present, but Olsen denied that with a grin. "It's all true. The only embellishment comes from the research." '7 have always been a fan of road trips. They are simply things that interest me. " \V. Scott Olsen Professor of English Author of "Gravity: The Distance of Allure11 Olsen slated that the only obstacle with which he was confront-ed was "[finding the] time to do the writing and the research and stuff, which is every writer's obstacle." Getting a publisher was a breeze for Olsen since this is his fourth book with The University of Utah Press. Olsen has a variety of other works, too, some of which include "When We Say We're Home: a Quartet of Place and Memory." "Acts of Illumination: Opening Conversations for the Writing Classroom," "Pointed Home: A Cross Country Essay," "Meeting The Neighbors: Sketches of Life on the Northern Prairie," "Just This Side of Fargo," "The Best of Northlight," "The Sacred Place: Witnessing the Holy in the Physical World" and "A Year in Place," which he co-edited with Bret Lott. Olsen's book actually began as a proposal to The University of Utah Press. "This is what I want to do," Olsen told his publisher, "and they [his publishers] said, 'Go for it.'" He gave his proposal well in advance of the writing, which he has done for some of his other books as well. "Everything is surprising if you stop and you slow it down enough. " W. Scott Olsen Professor of English Author of "Gravity: The Distance of Allure" Promotion is not something Olsen has to worry about. "The press should handle most of the promotion. I occasionally get asked to go attend conferences. I get to do the fun work," he Photo by Larry Largent English professor VV. Scott Olsen poses with his recently published book, 'Gravity: The Allure of Distance/ In his book, Olsen explores the gravity or pull we all experience in our desire to move; to go somewhere. said with a smile. For some of that "fun work," Olsen has gone to the Upper Midwest Book Seller Association Meeting, a convention of book store owners, to try to convince them to buy the book. He has also done some readings. He visited Montana for the festival of his book, he went to Minneapolis and on Oct. 15 he had a reading in Fargo. Olsen's office makes it evident that traveling is important to him as souvenirs he has acquired through the years are proudly dis-played on his walls. "The real payoff to travel is [that] you'll see the things you don't expect," Olsen said. In his book there are stories of driving on Highway 2(X) and almost hitting a great grey owl, coming around a bend in the road to find both sides of the road on fire (later he found out a road crew was doing it on purpose) and meeting a grizzly bear in the middle of the road. "Everything is surprising if you stop and you slow it down enough," Olsen said. "The subtitle of the book is The Allure of Distance' which is a nod towards [the fact that] we are always curi-ous about what's around the next bend in the road." Olsen has also learned a great deal from his travels. "One of the great values of travel is to learn that there's a great deal more possible in the world than anything we've imagined before," Olsen said. "I would hate to think that 1 can imagine every-thing or that I can expect even 10 percent of what's possible." What's next for Olsen? He's currently working on another trav-el book, although, he is unsure if it will be road trips only or a com-bination of road trips and flights. Olsen hopes to obtain a pilot's license within the next few years so he can take the "smallest plane [he] can find" and visit small airports throughout the country. "I would even prefer it if it had an open cockpit," Olsen said with a chuckle. u«f H purowse # beverage CALL382P cmeiiiiA Cheese Machos, Chili con Queso, Mexi-Pizza, Mini Beef Burrifo Taco Salad, Poco Loco, Chicken Tortilla Soup & Salad, One Enchilada (with rice & beans), Taco Platter (large taco, rice & beans) Mini Super Burrito \ 801 38ffi St. South, Forgo • www.parodiso.com 0 • The Idea Is good service. ^ idea one Basic Phone Service lgn up for residential phone sen/fee starting at or a bundle package and receive a Unlimited Diai-Up Internet • Voicemail DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) • Telephone Service Long Distance * Telephone Features -3 56-6000 •www.ideaone.com
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