Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Gagnon ‘23
By Lenox Johnson ’24
Staff Writer
Content warning: this article mentions homophobia.
Every Friday, Martin Wilson makes the hours-long commute from his home in New York City to the gates of Mount Holyoke College, where he teaches a class called Young Adult Fiction Writing. Wilson, a visiting lecturer in his first semester at Mount Holyoke, is aiming to cultivate an environment in which all stories can be told. Come rain or shine, Shattuck Hall is constantly buzzing with the clamor of creative minds at work.
Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Wilson always knew something made him different. “I refused to believe that I was gay, because, you know, I didn’t want to go to hell. I didn’t want to get beaten up,” Wilson shared. “I felt very alone. I think that feeling alone and retreating into the inner world made me a writer.”
As a child, Wilson became enveloped by an unwavering devotion to reading, which he credits as the best teacher he’s ever had. It quickly grew into a medium through which Wilson could be his authentic self. As the years went by, his love for reading blossomed into a passion for writing.
“There were not many visible gay people when I was young, and so I just felt more isolated,” Wilson explained. “I think having books, and TV shows and movies that portray diverse people just makes you feel more like you exist in the world.”
Wilson grew up situated in the center of the Bible Belt in the late ’80s. Even in moderately large Tuscaloosa, finding a safe space proved a challenge for him.
For Wilson, writing was a form of escapism. When he first picked up the pen as a teenager, story ideas poured out. Wilson finally started writing short stories in college, and an author was born.
“I don’t know what drove me to do it,” Wilson said. “I always created these strange little worlds that were an escape from the world I was living in. There was a satisfaction [in] creating something and being in control.”
After graduating high school, Wilson made his way to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Vanderbilt University. In his time as an undergraduate student, Wilson churned out short fiction, investing in his writing unlike ever before. Wilson was encouraged by a professor to put everything he had into his writing, an interaction that would soon prove transformative.
“I think when that teacher told me, ‘You’ll publish one day, you should go to graduate school,’ I sort of thought I could be a writer,” Wilson said. “If you write and believe in yourself, you can always call yourself a writer.”
In college, Wilson was also able to come to terms with his sexuality. This acceptance cultivated a sense of inner peace and released the creative energy within him.
“I just felt like, ‘Now I can just be who I want to be,’” Wilson said. “I definitely think that change did affect my writing.”
After receiving his bachelor’s from Vanderbilt, Wilson went on to graduate from University of Florida. He would later publish his novels “What They Always Tell Us” and “We Now Return to Regular Life”, both of which received positive reviews and nominations for the Lambda Literary Award in Children’s/Young Adult, an accolade for dynamic LGBTQ storytelling
Wilson is currently employed by HarperCollins and has worked in publicity and book publishing for 18 years.
“I feel solid in my style, but I do think it will evolve and I would like to push myself and try different things,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to turn out the same novel again and again and again. That’s not really why I write.”
In Wilson’s seminar, Young Adult Fiction Writing, students are expected to produce two short pieces of fiction. The workshop focuses on the fundamentals of good writing through creative writing exercise and the analysis of published works. Wilson aims to expose his students to material that is diverse in both style and subject matter.
For Wilson, it is vital to introduce students to undiscovered works that represent a myriad of voices. Students are always encouraged to embrace the stories they have to tell. He believes, even today, representation matters and that having these stories told helps people feel less alone — especially young people.
Wilson recognizes that, while strides have been made in the name of representation, there is certainly still work to be done. Ensuring progress is constantly being made in order to promote inclusion is, to Wilson, a necessary pursuit, not to be shied away from.
“Even though it’s 2021 and we’ve come a long way, I still think it’s tough for teenagers who are queer, trans [and] lesbian,” Wilson explained. “Having those stories told just helps people feel less alone, especially young people.”
To Wilson, a writer is someone who looks inward a little more than most people. A writer is someone who is pulled towards the otherworldly. A writer is anyone with a pen and a story to tell.
“One of my favorite lines about writing is by the novelist Anne Tyler. She said, ‘I write because I want more than one life.’ That’s sort of what I like about writing, I get to have a different life, I get to escape to this place,” Wilson remarked. “When you’re young, you have to turn inward and I think the creative endeavors are really kind of nice.”