At age 12, Paul Guest broke the third and fourth vertebrae in his neck during a bicycle accident, paralyzing him from the neck down. At 36, he has turned his experiences into award-winning poetry and a memoir he hopes to share with readers everywhere.
Guest will share these experiences with UA students during a two-day visit to campus Wednesday and Thursday.
“One of the messages of my memoir that I hope to share is that the realization of your hopes and dreams is possible, that tragedy doesn’t have to put an end to them,” Guest said.
“An Evening with Paul Guest” will be Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in ten Hoor Hall, Room 125. He will speak about his personal experiences and read a selection from his memoir “One More Theory about Happiness.”
“A Conversation with Paul Guest” will be Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in Room 301 in Morgan Hall. This will be a more intimate setting where Guest will engage the audience in discussions about writing, poetry, overcoming life’s challenges, inspiration and more.
Creative Campus student intern Amanda Kimbrough, who helped plan the event, has already been inspired by Guest’s works.
“It is exciting to have Paul Guest come to campus,” Kimbrough said. “I have read his memoir and a selection of his other works while planning the event, and I can say that I will be reflecting on their beauty indefinitely.”
Guest, a quadriplegic after his accident, hasn’t let his disabilities keep him from being successful. His first volume of poetry, “The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World,” received the New Issues Poetry Prize in 2002.
His second collection, “Notes for My Body Double,” was awarded the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in 2006.
In 2007, Guest was the recipient of the Whiting Writers’ Award.
Ecco/HarperCollins published his third collection, “My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge,” in 2008. His memoir “One More Theory about Happiness” was published in May of this year and recieved rave reviews.
“My latest book is a memoir that focuses on the experiences between my accident and my life now at 36,” Guest said. “It’s a lot about how to live life as a disabled person and also as a writer because the one really helped to realize the other.”
“He is an inspiring poet and has written a captivating memoir that continues to move his audiences every day,” Kimbrough said. “This is what I believe makes Paul a remarkable individual, a great author and an important guest for our campus.”
Andi Johnson, the intern coordinator for Creative Campus, is also among those who are thrilled to have Guest come to campus.
“We are very lucky to have an exchange with a writer of Paul Guest’s caliber,” Johnson said. “His story is remarkable and encouraging, and I was incredibly moved by the degree of intimacy and honesty in his writing. I hope UA students take this opportunity to hear Paul’s poetry and story and to be inspired.”
The event is free and open to the public. It is hosted by Creative Campus in partnership with the Office of Disability Services as part of the Creative Writing Department’s Bankhead Visiting Writers Series.
“The best part of these events is meeting new people and talking to them, so I would love for students, especially those who are interested in writing, to come out,” Guest said. “I want to share my experiences as a writer and what it entails and hopefully help students who are looking to pursue it as a career.”
