By Janet Gokay

 “I’ve been told many times by readers that, after they’ve finished a novel of mine, they catch themselves wondering about how the characters are doing now, as if these people lived and breathed in the actual world. There’s no better validation than that,” comments Connecticut author Wally Lamb. “Writing novels is, in a sense, like raising children. You nurture them, bring them to maturity, and then relinquish your control…they belong to those who read them.”

Lamb, author of four New York Times best-selling novels, will be speaking about his creative process on Saturday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at the Congregational Church in Norfolk. He agreed to take time out from his busy writing schedule—he’s at work on his fifth novel—to do this benefit for the Norfolk Library. The speech, Wally’s World: How and Why I Write my Novels, is part of the library’s Literary Liaisons program.

The ferocious success of Lamb’s first two novels—both Oprah’s Book Club picks in addition to New York Times bestsellers, and both about growing up in Connecticut—pleased and stunned him. He didn’t write another novel for ten years.

During that time Lamb, a lifelong English teacher and former director of creative writing at the University of Connecticut, gave generously of his talents by teaching writing to inmates at Connecticut’s York Correctional Institute. He published two collections of their essays to wide critical acclaim and, 12 years later, the program continues to thrive. “What I learned from the women at the York prison was what the complex equation that crime and punishment in America can be,” according to Lamb.

Lamb, who calls himself “a reluctant writer—and a reluctant activist,” writes novels that are deeply rooted in time (growing up in the 1950’s and ‘60’s) and place (Norwich, Connecticut). “I come from the ‘other’ Connecticut: east-of-the-Connecticut-river Connecticut. We’re more feisty than fashionable, more liverwurst than pâté. Boston exerts a greater pull on us than New York, and so we drop our r’s, root for the Red Sox, and use the word ‘wicked’ as an adverb, as in, ‘Manny Ramirez is a wicked good hittuh,’” Lamb noted. He writes about “the ‘innocent’ 1950s—when children were schooled in spelling, arithmetic, and fatalism.” Fatalism was certainly what I felt that September day in 2001 when I sat slack-jawed before the TV and watched the Twin Towers fall.”

Wally Lamb’s fame as a speaker rivals his acclaim as an author. Author groups around the country have commented: “Our organization has been hosting authors for many years, but our experience with Wally Lamb was one of the best.” “Wally Lamb’s presentation about his creative process was tremendously insightful, funny, and filled with personal anecdotes. He was gracious and generous with his time…he was a true highlight of our season.”

Tickets for the talk are $50, $100 (preferred seating), and $20 for students. They may be purchased at the door on April 28 or in advance at the library. Order forms are also available online at: www.norfolklibrary.org/lit-lia.php.