David Rowell, a 1989 UNC graduate, recently published his debut novel, “The Train of Small Mercies.”
The North Carolina native, also an editor for the Washington Post Magazine, will read from his book today in Donovan Lounge of Greenlaw Hall.
Assistant Arts Editor Katherine Proctor spoke with Rowell about his book, his time at UNC and his writing process.
DAILY TAR HEEL: What is your novel about?
DAVID ROWELL: The whole book takes place on June 8, 1968 — the day of Robert Kennedy’s funeral train. Up to two million people lined the tracks between New York and Washington, D.C., to pay their respects. It was a terrible time in American history because Martin Luther King Jr. was killed two months earlier, and after that, riots broke out all across the country. So the funeral train, which was an eight-hour procession, is the backdrop of the novel.
DTH: What were you involved in during your time at UNC?
DR: I actually had a column in The Daily Tar Heel. It was called “Pardon Me.” It was trying very much to be a humor column. I’d write about the things that happened to me, and they were seen through a very self-deprecating kind of lens. I’d write about things like showing up to a party and being that guy that stepped on someone’s cooler. That column was very helpful for me, especially in getting a handle on scene writing. I also took creative writing classes at Chapel Hill. I was a radio, television and motion pictures major, and at first, I thought I wanted to write screenplays. But I took a class with Max Steele, and that changed everything for me. I came so completely under the spell of short stories, and I left Carolina wanting to be a writer of short stories.
DTH: What was your writing process for this novel?
DR: The inspiration for the novel was a book of photos called “RFK Funeral Train” by the photojournalist Paul Fusco. I basically wanted this novel to be a fictional response to these pictures. I’d been writing a lot of short stories, but I finally told myself it was time to try my hand at writing a novel. But I didn’t feel like I had a straight, more traditional novel in me because I’m so taken with the short story form. I wanted to approach novel writing like a short story writer.
