NEW ROCHELLE, NY — On November 2, 2015 we were very fortunate to host Anthony Doerr, the 2014 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel All the Light We Cannot See.
Mr. Doerr delivered an animated and uplifting presentation to our high school students. He shared his journey as a writer and insight into how this novel developed over the course of 10 years. Ursuline students read All the Light We Cannot See as one of their summer reading assignments and asked thoughtful questions about characters, story elements, and the publishing process.
Mr. Doerr ended his talk by sharing his view that a goal of fiction writing is to help the reader look with empathy at others’ lives, combat stereotyping, and thus “nudge the world toward goodness.” Mr. Doerr spent a few minutes speaking with Parisian students and teachers visiting from our sister school, St. Ursule in France; those students had also read the book and had unique perspectives on the French characters in the novel.
He then generously signed stacks of books and took time to be interviewed by our Unison school journalists.
Afterwards, Mr. Doerr reflected, “ I had a truly lovely morning, and was so inspired to be around so many positive, intelligent, and fearless young women.”
Thank you to Chris Pope, our official school photographer, for his wonderful photos of this exceptional morning at Ursuline. Pictured below are Principal Carol Killebrew, left, and President Eileen Davidson with Anthony Doerr.
