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Name: Keith Grose
Class: 2011
Hometown: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Majors: Mathematics and Economics
Minor: Creative Writing
The last semester of college is a landmark time for any fourth-year student. For Keith Grose, it is—among other things—the culmination of his four semesters in the fiction track of UNC’s Creative Writing Program.
Grose will be one of four seniors reading tonight from his collection of short stories to kick off the Creative Writing Program’s annual Senior Honors Fiction Readings series tonight.
Eight other seniors in the department’s senior honors thesis course for fiction writing will present excerpts on March 29th and March 31st.
Grose—who used to work in a fluids laboratory during his first two years at the University and spent a year as a winger for UNC Rugby —said he wrote four short stories this year for his collection, which also includes stories he has already written for previous classes.
When it comes to writing, he said he doesn’t follow a particular routine or structured schedule, writing only when he feels like he has a story to tell.
“I usually find a seed, like sentence they say…from some experience or source and I build my story off of this idea,” he said.
He added that some of the best advice he received about fiction writing came from short story writer and 2011 Morgan Writer-in-Residence Amy Hempel, who advised his class during a workshop this semester to read through their stories to eliminate pauses or confusions, and author and Creative Writing professor Pam Durban.
“‘Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings,’” he said Durban told him. “Every writer has come to a point where they have a character or a sentence that doesn’t really contribute to the story or slows it down or doesn’t belong there. If you have some darling in the story holding it back, you have to realize as an author that you have to pull it from the story.”
After graduation, Grose will move to San Francisco to work for a consulting firm.
“If I feel really bold, I’d really love to write a novel, but I’m not sure until I get to that point,” he said. “I’d love to write as a job, but it might just be something I do for fun.”
The Creative Writing Program’s Senior Honors Fiction Readings will be held in the lounge at the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence in Graham Memorial Hall at 6 p.m. tonight, Thursday and Friday. You can hear Grose read selections from his collection at tonight’s reading.
Eric Pesale: What’s your favorite Franklin Street eatery or bar, and why?
Keith Grose: I’m going to have to say IP3 because I love their pizza, I love that they have international soccer games on all the time since I used to play soccer, they have some of the best pizza and beer deals for taking a friend and watching a game. I’m a big fan of their margarita pizza, but if I don’t get that I get a regular pepperoni. It’s all pretty good though.
EP: What’s your favorite author and/or book?
KG: My all-time favorite author is Gabriel García Márquez ; he’s part of what got me interested in writing fiction. One Hundred Years of Solitude still to this day is my favorite book. I like how he weaves in fantastic ideas of fantasy into the real world so seamlessly that you don’t even realize it.
EP: How would you describe the ideal perfect day?
KG: It would start off watching Sunrise Earth while drinking cups of good coffee, then I’ll walk to the arboretum and read something of my own choice, walk through Battle Park if it’s a good day, and then eat with friends afterward on Franklin St.
EP: What’s your biggest fear?
KG: My biggest fear, I would say, is having my life pass by without being an active participant, or going along with the crowd and forgetting about the goals and aspirations I have.
EP: What’s the top song on your iPod right now?
KG: Night Moves by Bob Seger. I listen to that a lot; it’s a good song to chill out to and walk around. But I’m one of those guys who have everybody on their iPod. I just listen to whatever I’m in the mood for at the time.
EP: What’s your most embarrassing moment?
KG: I was once placed in a situation where I was at a dinner party with a bunch of people in our youth group were asked to tell jokes. My mind blanked, but everyone was saying ‘you have to tell a joke!’ and I blanked and just said the first thing that came to my head. I said the first joke which came to mind and it was an off-color dead baby joke, and it was followed by one of the most awkward silences of all time.
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