The Daily Campus

Issue date: 10/2/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Paul Shim Author Heidi Pitlor speaks to students at the Co-op Thursday afternoon.

Heidi Pitlor, author of "The Birthdays," came to the Co-op for a book reading Thursday night as part of the "Writers Who Edit, Editors Who Write" series. The event was sponsored by UConn's creative writing program and the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund. Pitlor, a native of Massachusetts, charmed the audience during the question and answer section with her vibrancy and sense of humor. She began the evening by reading two excerpts from her novel to the large and diverse audience.

"I love talking with younger writers," Pitlor said. "College is a great age. It is a place to discover and experiment with writing and where you can try to be different."

She also loves readings because "every place has a different energy and it is nice to see the other end of the hallway and talk to readers."

Like Jeannie Tran, a 5th-semester biology major, Pitlor did not major in writing. Pitlor was a political science major at McGill University, and years later obtained her MFA at Emerson College. Tran said she came to the reading because she is changing her major to English after realizing her love for writing.

"I want to be an editor so I want to see what it entails," Tran said. "I am hoping to find out what an editor does exactly and if it is an interesting job."

Others who came to the reading were looking forward to hearing the story directly from the writer.

"I like to be able to hear the author read their own words and have the potential to ask questions," said John Allie, a 7th-semester art major.

Pitlor, who has worked with authors like Stephen King and Jhumpa Lahiri, talked about her career and how she has advanced to this point in her career. She told the audience about her experience working with homeless and runaway teenagers and her work as a freelance writer, working for 10 years at Houghton Mifflin and eventually becoming the editor of "The Best American Short Stories," a job she "hopes to have until [she] dies."

Pitlor also told students to find the time when they are most inspired and to write then.

"Try what you really want to do," she said. "The worst that could happen is that it does not work out, and then you just try something else that you like."

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