Intern Journal: Susan Orlean

By Kate Stefanski

Listening to Susan Orlean, author of books like The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin speak is a lot like reading one of her incredibly engaging profiles on the life of a seemingly uninteresting 10 year old. But that’s what makes her such a prolific storyteller.

When asked a question as predictable as “What is it like to have Meryl Streep play you,” Orlean answers by launching her audience into the world of Hollywood, pinpricked by a famous author leveling with a room full of admirers and hopefuls. Where we may have been nervous, borderline uncomfortable to talk about Adaptation, Susan simply laughed good-naturedly and clarified that she was far more worried about the idea of sleeping with her subject than she was about the potential of her snorting imagined drugs derived from the ghost orchid.

If you’re a fan of her books, especially The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, you feel honored to listen to her talk about anything. Because any question she answers turns into another profile, another story about her own life and how she got to be who and where she is now.

On Wednesday night, we had a reception and watched Adaption, the movie inspired by The Orchid Thief, at the Enzian Theater. Afterwards, we had an informal question and answer session, and Susan answered questions from the audience about her movie, the books she has written, and what it’s like to be a renowned author across the board.

Thursday night, Susan was kind enough to give a workshop class where she discussed leads, and the best ways to get your readers involved in the first few lines of your story. She provided a list of good leads as examples, and many of them were her own. After discussing those, she read some of the leads that the interns had written during the session, and the she took a break before giving a reading at 7:30.

At her reading, Susan read excerpts from one of her profiles, her book Rin Tin Tin, and a new book that is currently in the works. Afterwards, she offered her thanks and signed some books for the audience.

The Winter With The Writers program at Rollins is grateful that Susan Orlean made the time to come and participate in the festival. We are honored that she took the time to do so, and we wish her the very best with her newest book, and with all of her future endeavors!