Waiting for Richard Yates
by Leslie Absher
A close encounter with a famous novelist in his twilight alters the course of a writer’s life.
Leslie Absher lives in Oakland, California but grew up moving around the U.S. and abroad. Her writing practice, which consists primarily of journaling and personal essays, has led her into a deep sense of compassion for herself and the world. An essay about how she found out her father worked for the CIA was published by the Los Angeles Times and a second father/daughter essay was published on Ms. Magazine’s blog. The experience of losing her mother to breast cancer when she was sixteen was also published by Ms. She recently traveled to Andros, Greece to study with Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler as part of the Aegean Arts Circle Workshops. The three books that have influenced her most are In the Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka.
A close encounter with a famous novelist in his twilight alters the course of a writer’s life.
