Renowned creative non-fiction writer brings highly-versatile writing to Ohio University.
Steven Church’s reading at Walter Hall Rotunda has come and gone, but the humorous and analytical wisdom he divulged resonated with the intimate audience of 20.
Prolific creative non-fiction writer Steven Church gave a reading Thursday night from a couple of his most recent works. Stories from Ultrasonic and Theoretical Killings: Essays and Accidents covered topics ranging from raising children and the digestive system to an analytical discussion about intransitive verbs.
After a glowing introduction from Wesley Roj, which included quotes from Church’s book The Guinness Book of Me, Church finally took the stage in Walter Hall Rotunda in front of a mix of students, professors and Athens residents.
“Church’s writing relates to me on so many levels as a deadhead, a Cold War baby and even as a movie extra,” Roj, a Ph. D candidate and English faculty-staff placeholder, said. “If the bending and twisting of words is blasphemy, has Steven Church founded the Church?”
“Rotunda, I like it when a room mimics my physique,” Church said as he began his reading, ironically mocking his own tall, fairly powerful and commanding presence.
First Church chose to regale audiences with an adventure in attempting to toilet train his son that ended up with the father and son crawling through a 40-yard, life-sized replica of a disease-ridden “common colon” at a mall. His witty and casual delivery of the story makes it sound more like stand-up comedy than a book reading.
“I was with my son so I should probably act like an adult and resist the urge to ask for lubricant before entering the colon,” he said.
Even with this relaxed form of writing, Church manages to also seriously spread awareness about colon cancer in the middle of an amusing anecdote about toilet training children that ends in his 6-year-old son’s inadvertent obsession with the human colon.
“Always good to start with a poop joke,” Church said.
Church’s highly versatile writing and the way he quickly read switched from a casual style of comical anecdotes about raising children to vividly descriptive storytelling indicative of a novel, combined with deep and critical analysis.
“It was remarkable to listen to his use of words and his play on words,” Kathy Bic, a former UCLA visual communication professor, said. “He’d use his extensive vocabulary to play with words and make you think deeper about the specific word.”
The second reading of the evening was much more indicative of the writing style that put Church on the literary map. Beginning with “the paradox of rubbernecking — mixing the physicality of driving with the psychology of witnessing,” Church began an analytical investigation into the anomalies of intransitive verbs. Crown, shoulder, grief and spam were among many of Church’s subjects in this selection that brought a depth of personality to cold and secular words. By connecting the already expanded definitions of these seemingly mundane words, Church gave readers an insight into his personal pain by taking these analytical findings and using them to explain the tragic death of his brother.
After the reading, Church made himself available to talk with the audience and sign autographs. Church will reside at OU until Friday.
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“I’ve really enjoyed talking with students,” Church said. “We’ve had great conversations about writing and publishing and I feel like my time here is well spent.”
Not all of the attendants were previously familiar with Church’s work, but they were all happy with the diverse mix of exemplary writing they heard.
“I didn’t know him before this,” Abbi Mohler, a freshman studying English, said. “My English teacher talked it up and it turned out to be really good and fulfilling.”
“I don’t read,” Evan Hamilton, a sophomore studying screenwriting, said. “But his down-to-Earth writing makes me want to pick up a book.”
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