Paula Huston, Writer of non-Fiction and Fiction

A couple of years ago I flew to Grand Rapids, Michigan to accompany my youngest daughter on a little adventure of faith and art. Her art being the literary form of writing, fiction and non-fiction. She was a student at Savannah College of Art & Design. She was on a self guided expedition to find venues for her writing. The only lead her professors could give her was Guide Post magazine. She knew that was not what she was looking for, so she set out and I wanted to join her. She could have flown there by herself and used taxis, she was too young to rent a car. But it all sounded interesting to me, this "faith in writing" world. I was looking for faith in my reading, something different than what I could find at the Catholic book store I  frequented, or the religion section at Barnes & Noble.


So she flew in from Savannah and I from Dallas. I rented a car and we drove to Calvin College. I had not registered for the event, so I truly was a tag along. It turned out fine. I was free to peruse the book store and exhibit and hang out with other attendees in a nice comfortable, sitting area. There were several author talks I attended that were free to the public. I enjoyed them very much.

I bought several books. Two by an author named Paula Huston. One about the sacraments and one called, "Simplifying the Soul". I read parts of the first one and skimmed the "Simplifying" one. The following Lenten season I read it more in depth and become a fan of Paula's. I bought her ensuing book about aging, and continued to learn from Paula's life experiences and excellent way of relating them.


I just finished reading her latest fiction novel, A Land Without Sin. Even though it is my first experience of her writing that does not involve her personal life at all, the book makes her more real to me. For some reason, by living what she dreams, her fiction, I feel I can believe her non-fiction. I loved the novel. I appreciate her spiritual non-fiction and I love her. I used to want to meet her, but now I feel I would be too in awe of her. It would make her uncomfortable. So I will just keep reading her work.


My daughter, Aubrey, has met her. Paula teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program for which Aubrey is the coordinator. I would love to hear her speak, especially about writing non-fiction vs. fiction.