Wichita State welcomed alumna, novelist and short story writer Karen Lee Boren on Thursday evening for a Writing Now, Reading Now event at the Ulrich Museum of Art.
Boren, a professor of English and creative writing at Rhode Island College, earned her Master of Fine Arts from WSU before completing a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin.
She said she considers WSU the place where she “really got down to business” as a writer.
“I’m honored, and it’s really been a blast to find my way home — as it were — to the place I really learned to write,” Boren said.
Boren returned to campus a couple of weeks after the release of her newest story collection, “Ways Home,” which explores the idea of belonging and resilience across 14 short stories. From a girl haunted by Dolly Parton’s song “Jolene” to a ballet dancer torn between discipline and family, each piece captures characters searching for direction in uncertain times.
As an author, Boren ties her work to charities, with partial funds directly donating to nonprofits she sees fitting to her community or ideals.
“Any sales of ‘Secret Waltz’ — a portion goes to Planned Parenthood,” Boren said. “Any sales for the new book ‘Ways Home’ goes to a place called Amos House, an organization that helps people who are struggling with homelessness.”
Boren reflected on the deeper meanings behind her latest work and appreciated the full circle moment she noticed after performing her first live reading of this collection of stories on the campus she once called home.
“It’s important to think about what ‘home’ means to you and where that is, especially during this time of the world we are in,” Boren said.
