Margot Livesey is the bestselling author of many famous books. She grew up in the Scottish Highlands and went to an all-boys school. She started off as many young writers do, knowing that they like to write but not quite sure if they have the talent to make it big. It wasn’t until Margo was in college that she began to see writing as a serious career. She was traveling around the world with her boyfriend at the time, and he was writing a book. Margot would get bored watching him write all the time, and she decided that she would write too. Margot states that this first book, “was a very poorly written novel”. But no matter how poorly written it was, it led her on the path to having eight novels, multiple short stories, essays on the art of writing, and awards under her belt. Now Margot continues to write and teach at the University of Iowa (she is even part of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop which is recognized as one of the best Writers’ Workshops in the world).

The students of Coe College had the amazing opportunity to see this very talented writer in person. While at Coe, Margot shared one of her newest short stories that she had written, and she answered a slew of questions from audience members. These questions ranged from what it was like to grow up going to an all-boys school to any advice that she would give to aspiring writers. She led a very engaged discussion and asked the audience questions as well, almost like she was teaching one of her classes at The University of Iowa. All in all, it was a wonderful hour-long experience where a bunch of hopeful, eager college kids got the opportunity to see someone who made their dreams come true. This talk showed how if these college kids worked hard enough their futures could turn out the same.