Making order out of chaos

“I don't write about things that I have the answers to or things that are very close to home. It just wouldn't be any adventure. It wouldn't have any vitality.” –  Ann Beattie

Born in Washington, DC, in September 1947, Ann Beattie has earned numerous awards for her short stories and has had a dozen “collections” of her works published.  Her latest, The Accomplished Guest, was just released.

Winner of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters’ award for excellence in writing, and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form, Beattie’s first efforts and acclaim actually came as a novelist.  Her 1976 book, Chilly Scenes of Winter, also was made into a movie that remains an art house favorite.         

                                Beattie often writes about disorder – a world in chaos, reflecting the real world that surrounds us.    “I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere,” she said, “the visual imagery.  And then I people it with characters, not the other way around.”

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