A Decorah man has become a published author

Local Decorah writer, occassional ArtHaus teacher and frequent Poetry Slam favorite Keith Lesmeister has one more title to add to his resume--published author.

Lesmeister is no stranger to the writing scene as both his fiction and nonfiction works have appeared in many professional publications, but his new book, "We Could've Been Happy Here," is his first published collection of short stories.

Lesmeister says, "The common writerly advice is to 'write what you know.' With this book, and with these stories, I tried to do the opposite. I tried to 'write what I don't know.' I like to drink coffee, walk my dog, shoot hoops in the driveway, and sit outside under a dusky sky. That's great for me, but terribly boring for writing fiction. That's my reason for parting ways with any character closely resembling myself. Also, I'm fascinated by characters who are up against impossible odds: how do they act? what do they say? where do they find safety and refuge? Since I'm working with characters unlike myself, this exploration of character allows for surprise and discovery while writing the narrative, and that discovery process is like striking gold for a writer. Now, it'd be disingenuous to suggest that these people or settings were entirely unfamiliar. I mean, all of these stories take place in Iowa, for example, and some of the situations are familiar. But by and large, these stories explore characters unlike myself or others I know. I have never, for example, carted around a drunken, suicidal grandmother."

Lesmeister was born in North Carolina and raised in Iowa. He is a graduate of Luther College and he received his M.F.A. from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Keith and his wife, Molly Gallagher, have lived in Decorah for 20 years. Lesmeister teaches Composition and Literature at Northeast Iowa Community College and Viterbo University.