Last Thursday, poet and St. Edward’s Writer-in-Residence Carrie Fountain read from her debut young adult fiction novel “I’m Not Missing” as part of the  Visiting Writers Series. The series, a recurring event, invites various authors to the school to read from and discuss their work.

This event is one of the main reasons creative writing major Marcus Kearns decided to attend St. Edward’s.

“Not to be dramatic, but if we didn’t have a visiting writers series, I probably wouldn’t have come to this school,” Kearns said.

Attending events in the series allows him to immerse himself in the world of writing. He values the school’s dedication to not only teaching students how to create work, but showing them what being a poet looks like.

Fountain is a poet first and foremost, but also has experience writing fiction, screenplays and children’s books. Her first two books of poetry are “Burn Lake” and “Instant Winner.” Released in July 2018, “I’m Not Missing” is Fountain’s first fiction novel.

“It’s a different gratification to be able to write in different disciplines,” Fountain said.

As for the release of “I’m Not Missing,” Fountain has enjoyed hearing from people who have read it. “I really loved writing for young adults,” she said.

Freshman Leidy Jaimes says she was excited to hear about Fountain’s career and creative process firsthand.

“I think it will be interesting and inspiring to learn how [Fountain] became a writer, reflect it on my own writing and learn how to produce a novel,” Jaimes said.

BookWoman, a woman-owned bookstore in Austin, had a table at the reading where they sold copies of Fountain’s book for her to sign afterwards. According to Susan Post, one of the store’s founders, BookWoman has hosted the launches for all three of Fountain’s books. Post says she has enjoyed watching Fountain transition from poetry to fiction.

“I’ve known Carrie for a while, and I’ve seen her morph her forms from strictly poetry to young adult fiction, and I think fiction is on her horizons. I think her work speaks very well to young women,” Post said.

Post added that  she noticed the series attracted people who were not already familiar with the writer.

“I was talking to a young man who just saw the flyers around and decided to come, so he was here and he bought a book. It was really great.”

Apart from her work as an author, Fountain is also the host of NPR’s “This Is Just To Say,” a radio show where she interviews poets and discusses their work.

To learn more about the Visiting Writers Series, contact Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Sasha West.