Native Odessan and bestselling author Elizabeth Wetmore will have a homecoming when she appears as part of Authors at the Ector, set for 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Ector Theatre.
The event is part of One Book Odessa organized by Odessa Arts.
Randy Ham, executive director of Odessa Arts, said an interview will be conducted on stage and Wetmore will take audience questions.
Ham said Wetmore also will conduct a writing workshop at University of Texas Permian Basin, which he is very excited about.
The book was a selection of Jenna Bush’s book club on the Today show, it made several bestseller lists and was nominated for several literary prizes.
“And this is someone from Odessa and we want to encourage and set that example that you can be from here, and go out into the world and succeed as an author, as a musician, as an actor, as whatever because of the artistic foundation that was provided here in Odessa,” Ham said.
For her part, Wetmore said she is honored to have the opportunity to come home with Valentine, her debut novel.
“It’s a book near and dear to my heart, one that was many years in the making, and a love letter to the people and town that raised me,” Wetmore said via email.
Wetmore lives in Chicago, but was born and raised in Odessa, where she attended Gonzales Elementary, Nimitz Junior High and Permian High School.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Northern Arizona University. Wetmore also is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and two fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council as well as a grant from the Barbara Deming Foundation, her website said. In addition, she was a Rona Jaffe Scholar in Fiction at Bread Loaf and a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. In the spring of 2015, she was one of six Writers in Residence at Hedgebrook, the site said.
“My dad’s family came to Odessa in the early 1950s. My pawpaw and his brothers worked in the oilfield for a time before they went to work laying brick for houses. Eventually, he and my grandma opened the Broilerburger on Eighth Street,” Wetmore said.
“My mom’s family has been in Texas since the ‘Old Three Hundred.’ Her family came out to West Texas to work in the oil patch just after WWII,” she added.
Her father and sister live in Midland.
Having her debut novel make the Top 10 list of the New York Times Bestseller list was unexpected.
“I was shocked and thrilled, and deeply grateful to know that Valentine was finding its way into so many readers’ hands,” Wetmore said.
She wrote her first story when she was in her mid-20s.
“… For most of my life, I’ve written late at night— after work, after my son and husband have gone to bed—when the world is quiet and still,” Wetmore said.
She added that she has always been an avid reader and admires the work of other writers.
“… I feel the same about music and musicians, art and artists. On some level, I suppose, I loved the possibility that I might be capable of bringing some beauty into the world. I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and I didn’t draw, paint, or sculpt, but I sure could string some sentences together,” Wetmore said.
Short stories are the form she admires most.
“The short story is, in my view, the most elegant and beautiful of literary forms. I love writing stories, and I love reading them. They were my first attempts at writing fiction, and they are still my first love,” Wetmore said.
Like a lot of writers, she said, she can tend to be a bit of a hermit. However, she’s made countless appearances.
“I spend long hours at my desk, alone with my books, music, and writing projects. So I sometimes feel a bit of anxiety around public events, but the writing business is a tough one and I’m always mindful that it’s an honor and a blessing to have the opportunity to talk about these wonderful characters and their stories,” she said.
In the early stages of a project, Wetmore said she spends a lot of time jotting down notes, staring out the window, taking long walks and mulling things over.
“Often, I will think about a piece for a long time before I ever write the first draft. I’m always listening for the ‘voice’ of a story — the cadence and music of the language. Once I’ve got the first draft, it’s just a matter of revising and revising and revising, until I get the piece as close to perfect as possible,” she said.
“In the past few years, I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing longhand, so I’ll often begin a piece by writing in my composition book or on a legal pad,” she added.
In coming up with ideas for stories, Wetmore said she tries to spend a lot of time listening and observing.
“… I have a fruitful imagination. For me, stories generally begin with characters I’m interested in, or situations that I am curious about. I never know how a story ends until I’ve written it, so writing is always a process of discovery,” she added.
Wetmore is working on a collection of short stories and a second novel, both of which are set in West Texas.
When she’s not writing, she reads a variety of genres.
“I’ve just started Cathy Park Hong’s wonderful collection of essays Minor Feelings and Eddie Glaude, Jr.’s Begin Again. I recently read a lovely collection of poems by Logen Cure called Welcome to Midland. Last year was a great year for the short story, so I spent most of the Christmas holiday reading The Best American Short Stories, edited by Jesmyn Ward, and The Best Short Stories of 2021 (The O. Henry Prize Winners). Oh yes, I’m slowly making my way through Stephen Harrigan’s epic new history of Texas, Big Wonderful Thing,” she said.
Ham said he would like to start looking at incorporating children’s authors and young adult authors into local author events. He would like to bring in authors from different cultures, different geographic areas and different experiences, “so that we always find authors that can speak directly to people in the public.”
An important thing for youngsters — and adults — is seeing themselves in books, Ham said. He said “Valentine” is meaningful for that reason.
“… I can identify all of the characters and I can identify all of the locations in there. … I read to learn about other places, but sometimes it’s nice to see us represented because that book’s all over the country and so people are reading about West Texas,” Ham said.
Virtual Book Clubs
- Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m.
- Jan. 25-Feb. 8 on Microsoft Teams.
Writing Workshop with Elizabeth Wetmore: Noon to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 10, location TBA.
Contact: Nichole Rougeau-Vanderford at [email protected] or 432-552-2299 to register for these events.
These events are open to the public.
Warning: This novel depicts scenes of sexual violence. UTPB Counseling services are available at the discretion of all participants.
