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Academics > Humphrey Family Writing Center > Writers at Work series > Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Weingarten speaks to students > 

Pulitzer Prize-winning author speaks with students (February 21, 2011)  

 

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning feature writer and Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten spoke with students in the Memorial Room on February 21, 2011 as part of The Hill's Writers at Work program, a series of talks and in-class workshops organized by Tony Reid ’75, the Humphrey Family Writing Center Director (pictured, below, with his friend and former colleague).  

View video excerpts from Mr. Weingarten's talk by clicking on the links below. Please note: These are QuickTime files and may take a moment to download.

Gene Weingarten video 1
 
 
Weingarten fielded questions about the inspiration behind some of his favorite stories and shared insights into his craft. He revealed that he really learned to write when he was a 27-year-old reporter whose editor told him that a piece he had submitted was merely “fine” – a term Weingarten correctly interpreted as meaning that his story lacked passion.   As part of that experience – and the subsequent, middle-of-the-night rewrite – Weingarten developed his signature style: an approach in which the words he does not use become almost as important as those he does.  He engages his readers by leading them to think about the parts of the story that are not fully spelled out.

Weingarten read excerpts from a few of his features and talked about their  back stories, as well as how the advent of web video and chats has changed and heightened  writers’ interactions with their readers. Nonetheless, the “vitriolic responses in the comments section” of the on-line paper can be disturbing, to say the least, he said.   

When asked if he remains in contact with the people he gets to know so intimately in the course of his research, Weingarten admitted he does not attempt to stay in touch, in part because of the deep emotions involved with many of the stories, and also because the volume of such relationships  would be unmanageable.

“The stories I write expose people at a level they hadn’t expected,” he noted, adding, “The truth always is the best story.” 


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