Acclaimed Oklahoma author chosen for Distinguished Visiting Writer Reading

Acclaimed Oklahoma author Rilla Askew will read from her work at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, in the lobby of the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, 1711 S. Homer, at Pittsburg State University.

The reading, sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council, is a great opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and the public, organizers say.

Oklahoma-born Askew is the author of eight books, many of which are focused on her native state. Her work takes on themes of place, the outsider, religion and politics, greed and ambition, race, and women's lives.

Her most recent book, a collection called "The Hungry and the Haunted," is set primarily in Eastern Oklahoma during the 1970s.

The short stories are told across multiple perspectives, showcasing lives touched by grief, guilt, and social change with a particular focus on Southwestern indigenous people and teenage girls on the outskirts of society.

Writer Allan Gurganus says Askew's writing is like a "mythic cycle" that unsettles preconceived ideas about the American West. Writer Patricia Eakins compares Askew to writers like William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy.

In a 2006 interview with Pedestal Magazine,Askew described her Oklahoma heritage:

"(It's) a rich, smoky stew of Deep South and American West. My parents' grandparents came to Indian Territory in covered wagons from Mississippi and Kentucky, so that experience is not deep memory for me but living memory... We're such a young state...that the stories of how we came to be in this place are still fresh in us, in our families."

In that same interview, she discussed how she approached writing her 2001 American Book Award winning novel, Fire In Beulah,which takes place during the infamous Tulsa Race Riot.

" ... I realized I had to go farther back in Oklahoma's history to understand how such volatile and violent racial attitudes - attitudes that would lead to the worst racial conflagration in our nation's history - could have been carried into this place."

She said she "went back" into her family history and created a background of "brother against brother" that set the tone for the racial violence of the Tulsa Riots.

Associate Professor Chase Dearinger described Askew's work as "full of grit and honesty."

"I'm thrilled she's coming to read at Pitt State; her rugged but beautiful landscapes and characters should really resonate with people in this part of the country," he said. "I'm especially excited that she'll be reading from her new collection of stories, 'The Hungry and the Haunted,'which brings her back to her Oklahoma roots. This is a great opportunity for students and community members to come out and see one of America's best storytellers."

Askew has received many awards over her writing career, including the 2002 American Book Award for "Fire in Beulah," and the Oklahoma Book Award in 2008, 1998, and 1993 for "Harpsong," "The Mercy Seat," and "Strange Business."

She was a Pen/Faulkner Award finalist for "The Mercy Seat," an Oklahoma Book Award finalist for "Prize for the Fire" and "Kind of Kin," a PEN/America Diamonstein-Spievogel Award Art of the Essay semifinalist, and a Spur Award finalist.

Askew is married to actor Paul Austin and teaches creative writing at the University of Oklahoma.

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