Author Catherine Lacey spoke at a recent “Writers Speak” event hosted by Harvard’s Mahindra Humanities Center, where she discussed how writing fiction often leads her to reveal personal truths. The event took place in late April and was attended by members of the Harvard community.
Lacey said that trying to hide or reveal specific aspects of herself while writing does not work for her. “When I start trying to make choices about what to reveal or conceal, it just doesn’t work,” she said. “When I try to keep [the personal] out, it gets in anyway, or the book will refuse to be written.”
She reflected on her debut novel, “Nobody Is Ever Missing,” noting that although the story involves a character losing an adopted sister to suicide—a situation not present in her own life—her stepsister died by suicide after she finished writing the book. This experience led Lacey to consider how deeply personal experiences can surface unconsciously through fiction. “I didn’t have an adopted sister, I didn’t know anybody that had killed themselves, but my stepsister died by suicide — is the simplest way to describe it — after I had finished the book… And I think those are the kinds of things that come out in fiction when a voice starts to feel like — ‘This is me, but it’s not me’ — and it does feel authentic, but I don’t know where it’s coming from,” she said.
Lacey also addressed how bringing narrators and characters to life can be challenging for young writers but believes emotional resonance signals effective storytelling. “It’s terrifying for something to possess a voice,” she said. “It’s terrifying to have disclosures on a page. That even though they’re through a fictional character, it somehow reflects something about you that maybe you don’t even want to expose.” She added that often she only realizes how much of herself is revealed in her books shortly before publication.
Discussing short stories as an organic narrative form, Lacey compared them with poetry and described their creation as an almost involuntary process: “When I hear poets talk about writing poems…it’s like something happens to them,” she said. “And I think the story is the closest I can get to something happening to me.” Her first collection of stories was released in 2018; another titled “My Stalkers” is expected in 2027.
Lacey concluded by sharing that each completed story feels unique and irreplaceable: “Every time I finish a story, I’ve been like, ‘That might be the last one I ever have,’ because it never really feels like anything else is going to feel like that,” she said.
