Noted writer offers own literary 'sermon' to inspired crowd

Some might say Susan Sontag is a woman who needs no introduction -- but last night at the Kelly Writers House, she received no less than three.

With close to 100 people crammed into rooms throughout the house -- many of them standing by the doorway just to listen -- the Writers House was truly "an intimate venue," as English Professor Al Filreis put it in his opening remarks.

But Filreis then did not turn the podium over to Sontag -- two students who had spent the day in a seminar with the author presented moving tributes and a gift as the crowd waited patiently.

Then it was Sontag -- with dark black hair that looked much different from her publicity photo -- who towered over the podium in a faintly shimmering pair of pants and a flowing black shirt, commanding the audience's full attention.

The esteemed writer, who was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 1990, wasted no time giving her own tribute to the program and people with whom she had spent the day.

"I think this place is just terrific," Sontag said. "I was incredibly moved by the spirit of the people that I met in this house earlier today."

Her praise soon gave way to a discussion -- which Sontag herself referred to as a "sermon" -- of what literature is.

"I don't think it's wrong to say the glory of a nation is its literature," Sontag said in the first of many bold statements she would make throughout the night.

In true intellectual form, Sontag spoke on everything from the siege of Sarajevo to the Matisse and Picasso exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Changing the topic to Regarding the Pain of Others, she described her latest work as either "a long essay or a short book."

Although started in 2001, the book actually tries to explain her experiences in Sarajevo from 1993-1996.

"I'm actually extremely slow, and it actually took me years to think about it," she said.

Putting aside discussion of her most recent work, Sontag then shifted the conversation to her own creative work.

"I much more prefer the writing of fiction," she said, as she began to leaf through a paperback copy of one of her novels.

Before choosing to give the audience a sample of her own work, Sontag explained her central goal or hope each time she writes something.

"I wouldn't want to write books which wouldn't get reread," she said.

She concluded by reading a long section from the opening of her novel In America.

A long line of students and locals formed around the Writers House fellow almost immediately after she finished.

College senior Elyssa Koretz, who had presented Sontag with a gift at the start of evening, had nothing but praise for the event.

"For me, listening to her speak about her work and her writing process was a broadening experience -- extending me beyond my own realm," Koretz said. It's "just as Susan Sontag claims reading and writing should do."

Others who waited dutifully to have books signed agreed.

"Susan Sontag is really the public intellectual of our time," College senior Rachel Friedman said.

"She's bold enough to write about anything she wants and get away with it."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.