Sharmen Apt-Russell - November 14, 2004
by Rebecca Hartwell

     Sharmen Apt-Russell, author of Kill the Cowboy and professor at Western New Mexico University, met the group around the fireplace in the Lichty Center on November 14th. The setting was informal. The group curled up in couches and armchairs to speak with Sharmen and feel the inspiration of writing again. Sharmen questioned the group to reflect upon our experiences with writing and express some of our problems. In response, she offered many tips to us and described her own style of writing.

     Sharmen writes as a process of learning and exploring. She chooses a topic or a question that fascinates her and spends great amounts of time researching this topic and sorting through the tangle of information with words. She said, "Writing becomes a way of thinking-that process becomes alive." Sharmen's style of writing that involves heavy amounts of research and questioning allows Sharmen to write regarding any subject that she chooses. Kill the Cowboy discussed the common ground between environmentalists and ranchers that comes from a deep devotion to the land. This topic was spurred by her life and observations in the West. Sharmen also wrote a book about butterflies called An Obsession with Butterflies, and she is currently writing a non fiction book about hunger in all of its forms. I personally felt inspired by the sense of possibility in writing that she brings. I realized that writing can be a means for exploration rather than simply an expression of knowledge. A piece of advice that Sharmen gave to was, "Be yourself when you approach a subject, even science. As a writer you can bring freshness with metaphor, literacy devices, personification, and pacing."

     As with many western writers that we have met on our journey, Sharmen is deeply connected to her home in Silver City, a small community that was once a mining town, but has recently drawn small gallery owners and southwestern artists to renovate the downtown. Sharmen calls the new art scene "a little sparkle to the town." She participates in the town's activities and gains inspiration from it. As she described her home with pride, I realized how beautifully writers speak. Writers have a grasp on language that emerges in their everyday voice in addition to their writing. This is why it was an honor to speak with Sharmen and learn from her verbal advice as well as from her books. One of her closing statements, and one of my favorite tips that she gave was: "The fun of writing is to make connections. You are jumping from A to G, and that is the flight."