By Emiley Morgan
Aspiring writers, avid readers and the simply curious gathered Friday, Feb. 9, 2007, at Utah Valley State College to hear Marilynne Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, answer questions on topics such as Christianity in America today, the importance of following your passion and the conflict between good and evil.
Robinson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for her novel ?Gilead,? which tells the story of a dying pastor who writes a letter to his 7-year-old son.
Robinson began her presentation by reading a passage from the novel and then opened the floor for audience questions. She first answered questions about how writing is not necessarily contrived and the importance of never anticipating success until it comes. She also encouraged aspiring writers to not allow themselves to be bogged down with fear of failure or how their works will be received.
?You have no way of knowing, you can?t anticipate, and you should not calculate on the basis of what you think will fly or win a prize or get attention. That stuff will suffice to a point but it doesn?t make your life, it doesn?t make you as a person. What you need to do is find your passion and be faithful to it,? Robinson said.
Another major theme of the discussion was religion. Robinson said that we live in a world of conflicting values where both sides can be seen as good, but grace is essential in the midst of these conflicts.
?The issue is grace. Really, people are in various degrees and in various ways, evil. I?m a bit of a Calvinist here, I believe in the universal fall and I think the benefit of that theory is that it actually makes judgment meaningless among ourselves,? Robinson said.
Robinson discussed the state of Christianity in the world today in further detail and how, for various reasons, Christianity has become its own greatest obstacle.
?The major problem for Christianity, at this point, is Christianity,? she said.
Robinson said other major problems of Christianity are that it has forgotten grace, it?s a bit judgmental, and that instead of speaking to souls it tries to create social regimentation.
?I think that if Christianity simply allowed itself to be beautiful as it ought to be, that 99 percent of resistance to it would melt away,? Robinson said.
Sarah Cutler, 23, a BYU senior from Albuquerque, New Mexico found Robinson?s statements on Christianity to be the most interesting part of the presentation.
?I think the best part was when she said that if Christianity would just let itself be as beautiful as it should be then resistance to it would melt away,? Cutler said.
Leslie Dunn, 21, a BYU junior majoring in business was most impressed with Robinson herself.
?It would be exhausting to have a mind like hers,? Dunn said. ?Every thought is profound. They should have a scribe to follow her around and write down everything she says.?