Alumna author discusses book

Lorene Cary, a creative writing lecturer at the University, discussed her book Black Ice yesterday as part of the"Penn Authors and Autobiographies" lecture series. The event, held in Bennett Hall's Penniman Library, was part of the College Alumni Society's mission to promote the liberal arts and sciences at the University. Cary explained that Black Ice -- which the American Library Association named a "Notable Book" in 1992 -- is a memoir of Cary's experiences as the first black female student at an exclusive New England boarding school. It is also a document of a woman's adolescence. Cary began her interactive lecture with a dramatic reading of several excerpts from the book. She noted, "I think writers should read their works -- just like you want to see the works of a carpenter before you allow him in your house." And addressing the many challenges of writing an autobiography, Cary said, "It took me three years of writing to tell experiences from two years of my life." According to Cary, she did not intend for her book to be an autobiography. The book initially was going to include the experiences of the minority students who attended school with her. But after interviewing her former peers, Cary discovered that she "could not get down and dirty" with the experiences of those students. At that point Cary "turned to memoirs and began writing about the way memory changes." The process of writing was also a process of self-discovery, Cary explained. The transition from being a black girl in a white school to writing a book about a black girl's adolescence allowed her to expand the landscape of experiences she could include in the book. "I had other narratives that tried to tell me what was going on," she said. "I had other experiences before my arrival at Saint Paul's [boarding school]." Cary not only spoke about the process of writing, but also the process of editing. Noting that the 300-page book was initially 500 pages, she said the goal of editing is to make the writing "effortless." According to Cary, she wanted to edit the passages in order to move beyond the words and the ego, and to pay homage to the subject at hand. "Writing a memoir has been an intellectual, emotional and sometimes magical experience," she said. Following her presentation, Cary -- who will teach three writing courses next semester -- answered students' questions and spoke about her experiences at the University. And she gave encouragement to students who have met some of the same challenges she encountered.