40.2 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeEventsKentucky Novelist Babcock to Read at APSU tomorrow

Kentucky Novelist Babcock to Read at APSU tomorrow

Squire Babcock
Squire Babcock

Squire Babcock admits that for much of his early life, he was an aimless, drifting soul. The low point came after an arrest for possession of heroin, but for years afterward, he moved from job to job, working as a ballroom dance instructor, a farm hand, a hunting guide, a pool table repair mechanic, carpenter, a free-lance journalist, a small business owner and blues drummer.

But throughout all the struggles and new starts, there always lingered that memory of being a 9-year-old boy in Kentucky, reading the novel “My Side of the Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George.

“It was a transforming experience,” Babcock said. “I identified so strongly with the character, his predicament, and his ultimate triumph, and I so loved the words and the power that the narrative had on me, that somewhere in my child’s mind I said, ‘I want to do that; I want to write books like that; I want to live inside books like that.’”

At 8 p.m. on Feb. 11, Babcock, director of the low-residence Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing at Murray State University, will read from his debut novel, “The King of Gaheena,” in room 303 of the Morgan University Center.

“The novel is set in Louisville, Ky., and in a fictional town called Gaheena, Ark.,” Babcock said. “The novel is at times darkly dramatic and, I hope, funny at times, and I plan to read some dramatic scenes from both Kentucky and Arkansas and leaven them with some scenes that provide a little comic relief. In fact, that’s mostly how I see life on this planet, as darkly dramatic narratives leavened (thank God) with occasional comic relief.”

Babcock’s wandering ended at the age of 30 when he enrolled at the University of Massachusetts as an English major. He went on to earn an M.F.A. from the school. In 1996, Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones pardoned Babcock’s heroin conviction, and for the last 16 years, he has taught English and creative writing at Murray State University.

“Squire Babcock is the kind of writer who I admire,” novelist and APSU creative writing professor Barry Kitterman said. “It’s probably no coincidence that his publisher also publishes Silas House and a number of other fine writers in the region, writers with a strong sense of place, in this case both rural Arkansas and Louisville, Ky. He’s a writer who can tell a compelling story and get at the big issues at the same time.”
The Feb. 11 reading is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

For more information, contact Susan Wallace with the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts at 931-221-7031.

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles