Currently 20 years old, Robert W. Henway is studying English and Creative Writing at the University of Iowa. During his freshman year he had creative nonfiction pieces published in Cleaver Magazine and 1966. “Postcard” is his first published piece of fiction.
Eckleburg: What captures your interest most in your work, now, as a reader of your work?
Robert W. Henway:
When I’m writing I find that I’m constantly reading the piece aloud to see how the words flow, and to find which parts are naturally read with emotion and inflection. The one factor that seems to always make or break a piece for me is sincerity. In my opinion, a calculated piece that is trying to artificially provoke emotion will never beat out a genuine story.
Eckleburg: What are you working on now?
Robert W. Henway:
For now, I’m just trying to get my voice out there as I continue to pursue a degree in English and Creative Writing. I was recently accepted into the Undergraduate Writers’ Workshop for Fiction at the University of Iowa, and I’m beyond excited to be working with Ethan Canin on my craft. Otherwise, besides continuing to write short fiction and creative nonfiction, I’ll be serving as an Honors Writing Fellow during the upcoming Fall Semester.
Eckleburg: Who and what are your artistic influences?
Robert W. Henway:
Thematically speaking, a lot of my writing is inspired by my lonely youth. I often felt lethally alone even when people surrounded me. A lot of my writing is an attempt to capture this feeling, and to examine what goes wrong when two very lonely people try to connect and ultimately cannot.
Without F. Scott Fitzgerald, I would have written only the dullest lines. Without Morrissey, I would have no mood. Without Byron, I would never confess. Without Wilde, I wouldn’t have wit. Whatever your opinion is on my writing, it can be agreed that it would be far worse without them.
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