Elizabeth Strout is one of the most distinct voices in contemporary American literature, and beloved by readers and critics alike. Her international breakthrough came with the novel Olive Kitteridge, which earned her the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, and which was later adapted into the award winning mini series of the same name. Since then, she has written four books in her Lucy Barton series; My Name Is Lucy Barton, Anything Is Possible, Oh, William! and Lucy by the Sea.
Her Lucy novels tell stories about exposedness, poverty, grief and childhood trauma, but also about the value of hope, art and love. Lucy grows up in a poor and dysfunctional family in the Illinois countryside and becomes a writer against all odds. Through her village upbringing and different periods in Lucy’s life, the novels depicts her slow awakening as a writer, someone who tells stories, who gives the world meaning through language.
In Strout’s novels and short stories, the great drama unfolds within unassuming everyday life. The emotional lives of ordinary people are portrayed with depth, warmth and complexity, while she simultaneously shows a keen eye for the larger societal structures and systems of which we, consciously or unconsciously, are part.
At the House of Literature, Strout is joined by writer Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold for a conversation about family, community and change.
The conversation will be in English.
