Concordia held its final National Book Awards celebration by bringing authors David Grann and Nikky Finney to speak on campus.
Finney is the 2011 poetry winner for her work “Head Off & Split.” Grann is a 2017 nonfiction finalist for his book “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The Readings and Conversation event was hosted by former NPR correspondent and Concordia graduate John Ydstie ’74.
Ydstie started the evening with the authors detailing a selection of their works. Grann discussed his inspiration and process for writing the novel “White Darkness” as well as “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which Ydstie called “an investigative reporting achievement of the highest order combined with great storytelling.” The book details the murders of Osage Indians in the early 20th century after they became some of the wealthiest people per capita in the world when oil was discovered under their land.
While discussing “Head Off & Split” and Finney’s latest book, “Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry,” Ydstie noted how she is unflinching in her work and pursuit of difficult truths. He asked about her thoughts on recent movements to ban books that make young readers feel uncomfortable.
“I think it’s criminal,” she said. “Being uncomfortable is part of the human condition. I think we are propagating something that makes our young people, us, and citizens of our country and all territories pull away from the truth, pull away from curiosity, and pull away from integrity. We can’t sit back and let this happen.”
Grann added that people are not trapped by history and pretending that human nature is not complicated is ignoring reality.
“We know people do bad things,” he said. “The question is why do people do bad things? Was it systemic, was it cultural, was it characterological? Let’s understand it. Let’s understand us. Let’s understand the society we want to be.”
When giving advice for aspiring writers, Finney told the audience one must make time to write and be open to new ideas.
“Be willing to have the story change,” she said. “Humble yourself to the thing you want to write and then do the work.”
In 2006, Concordia College became a founding partner with the National Book Foundation of the National Book Awards on Campus Program. The NBF has discontinued the campus program.
Laura Probst, library director and co-director of the National Book Awards at Concordia event, says the college is looking to host a similar event in the future.