Kirk Farber, author of “Postcards From a Dead Girl,” was the first of eight authors to visit the CSU-Pueblo campus for the Southern Colorado reading series on Sept. 16, 2010. The reading series is now on its’ tenth year on campus.

Farber read from his novel, “Postcards From a Dead Girl,” which was published earlier this year. 

The audience was full of enthusiasm and listened as he read from various sections from the piece. The room was nearly full and the new addition of refreshments waited for readers in the back of the room. The refreshments are new addition this year, provided by the Diversity Resource Center, who is a new sponsor to the series.

 Farber, who is originally from Oconomowoc, Wis., graduated with an English degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. While doing other odd-jobs to earn some money, Farber said he was always thinking about writing.

 “I began writing when I was 13 or 14. I would write funny short stories,” said Farber. He also said that with his love of writing, came his pursuit of an English degree. He continued writing through high school and college up into the present day.

 Upon completing his degree, he said he attended a writing group called Red Bird Studio. This studio was a group of writers who gathered and looked over writing and helped each other better themselves.    

“We would gather every two weeks,” he said. “I wanted to find help with my manuscript,” Farber said.

Farber said he was looking for an agent when he moved to Colorado.

“I went to Denver and in three months I found an agent who wanted to help,” he said. Farber included that after he signed with the agent that within a month his manuscript sold. 

Farber said he was also a semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

This contest is held for authors through the Amazon.com website. It is intended to find and spotlight new authors by presenting 15 pages of their work. Readers then vote on who’s work they liked the most. Farber said that by doing this, it helped make finding an agent a lot easier.

In the interview, Farber talked about the hardest parts about writing his novel from beginning to end.

Farber was asked by an audience member who some of his inspirations were. “Chuck Palahniuk. When I first read ‘Fight Club,’ it was so different and dynamic from the other stuff I was reading at the time,” he said.

He also said that he enjoys reading Kurt Vonnegut, Hiroki Murakami, and Paul Oster.

Farber, before writing professionally, was the drummer in the Wisconsin based band, “Spill,” for eight years before finishing his novel. “It was fun, but we broke up after a while he said.

Farber jokingly compared his reading on campus to his usual appearances. “This is an actual reading unlike the appearances I make in bookstores, where they limit your reading to about eight minutes,” he said. “So I’ll probably read for eight and a half minutes tonight,” he said as he shared a laugh with the crowd.