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Writer shares wisdom
By Nate Brennan
 Media Credit: Adam Masloski Writer and teacher Shannon Olson (center) works with students Cyndy Diedrich (left) and Meghna Kapoor (right). Olson is a visiting teacher this semester at SCSU. She teaches fiction and nonfiction classes in the creative writing sequence of the English department.
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When Garrison Keillor, the easy-going spokesman for the Minnesotan Mentality, bestows his approval upon an author’s work, people can assume that the author has asked the right questions and found a way to make them almost as rewarding as the answers.
Shannon Olson is one such author who has earned praise from Keillor for her book, “Welcome to my Planet, Where English is Sometimes Spoken.” Now, thanks to the initiative of SCSU English professor Bill Meissner, Olson is a visiting professor at SCSU this fall and is earning praise for both teaching and writing.
Meissner invited Olson to teach at SCSU after meeting her at a “writing dialogue” workshop held in Minneapolis earlier this year. She agreed to teach two non-fiction creative writing classes, both of which filled up immediately.
“I was impressed with her personal approach to teaching and her ability to combine humor with poignant insight,” Meissner said. “The students (at SCSU) have enjoyed her teaching and casual style.”
“Welcome to My Planet” is part autobiographical, part fiction and is narrated by a character that shares Olson’s name and, presumably, some of her struggles.
“The book began as a series of vignettes, things I wrote during the chaos of my twenties,” Olson said. “You know, you get out into the world and you’re supposed to be an adult, and you don’t feel like one.”
Keillor calls “Welcome to my Planet,” a “wonderfully funny and elegant and compelling book about love and confusion in Minneapolis.”
Olson had been writing long before her novel was published in 2000. When a journalist from her hometown newspaper contacted her mom and asked if Shannon had written any earlier works, her mom was proud to divulge her daughter’s early genius.
“Of course my mom pulled out something I had written as a child and told the journalist, ‘No, she wrote The Bunny Mystery in third or fourth grade,’” Olson said.
Growing up in a family that appreciated stories was instrumental in Olson’s development as a writer. Home was a haven of sorts for Olson, who said she was very shy growing up.
“At school, I was more of a watcher and a listener, but at home I was a nut,” Olson said.
Besides teaching and writing, Olson also offers advice for aspiring writers.
“Take it little chunk by little chunk. Be patient,” Olson said. “Have a back-up skill, and realize that you have to love it.”
Olson said she has enjoyed her time at SCSU so far. When asked how SCSU differs with the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, where Olson previously taught, the professor gives SCSU a good review.
“It’s a lot easier to navigate, and there are fewer bureaucratic hassles,” Olson said. “It has a small college feel, and I’m impressed with how much is going on here. There’s always some movie showing I wish I could stay and see.”
Olson plans to spend the spring semester teaching at Colorado College, and when the Husky hockey team visits in February, who will she be rooting for?
“Ooohhhh . . . that’s a tough one,” Olson said. But after a little urging and a brief deliberation she pledged her loyalty.
“For sure the Huskies,” Olson said.
Olson’s book is available both online and in bookstores across the country.For those interested in finding out more about her writing, Olson will offer a reading followed by an informal discussion on Nov. 14 11 a.m-12 p.m. in Voyagers South in the Atwood Center.
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