5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/read-it-former-scranton-professor-sets-debut-novel-in-familiar-nepa-landscape-1.2192041 1/7

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Read It: Former Scranton professor setsdebut novel in familiar NEPA landscape

F O N T S I Z E

S H A R E T H I S

A R T I C L E T O O L SAuthor David Hicks returns to Northeast

Pennsylvania, a place he once called home,

to promote his debut novel, “White Plains,”

which takes place partly in the region and

examines the nature of mistakes and the

way a landscape a�ects an individual.

As part of his book tour of the U.S. and

Ireland, Hicks plans on holding a meet-and-

greet and book signing on Monday, May 15,

from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hoyt Library,

284 Wyoming Ave., Kingston. On Wednesday,

May 17, from 7 to 8 p.m., Hicks will give a

book reading and signing at Library Express

in the Marketplace at Steamtown, 300

Lackawanna Ave., Scranton. 

Hicks, who holds a Ph.D. in literature from

New York University, teaches and directs the

MFA program at Regis University in Denver,

Colorado. He said the protagonist of “White

Plains,” Flynn Hawkins, shares many

similarities with himself. 

“Except I think he’s a little worse than I am, a

little more of an idiot than I am. But who’s to

say ... It’s mostly �ctionalized. I made up

people and made up events but, [for] most

– +

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/read-it-former-scranton-professor-sets-debut-novel-in-familiar-nepa-landscape-1.2192041 2/7

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of my work, I base the characters on real

people,” Hicks said. 

The novel follows Hawkins and his “series of

mistakes, “ as well as his recovery and

growth, part of which takes place in NEPA. 

“Most of it is about a man who grows up in

New York and, after 9/11, has his life fall

apart,”  Hicks said. “[He] ends up bottoming

out and trying to become the man his kids

want him to be.” 

Personal experience led to Hicks setting a

major section of his novel in NEPA. After

moving from Colorado, Hicks lived in

Nicholson and taught at Marywood

University in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He loved the natural beauty surrounding his

property, which bordered Tunkhannock

Creek. 

“I was very happy there,” Hicks said. “My kids

really loved Colorado, and they kind of

wanted me to go back, but I could have

stayed in Nicholson.” 

Hicks described how the region �ts into the narrative of “White Plains.” After leaving his

family to pursue a relationship in Colorado,  Hawkins moves to work at a university

closer to his children, living �rst in Scranton and then Nicholson.

“The Scranton chapter is a little rough, because he’s living in a basement and not being

very healthy,” Hicks said. 

However, while in Nicholson, Hawkins reconnects with his children and “reforms his life

in the woods.” 

“That’s kind of the healing part of the book... he starts to get better again,” Hicks said. 

Other regions factor heavily into the novel’s narrative, including White Plains, New York,

and where both Hicks and his character grew up. Colorado and NEPA, where both lived

and worked, shaped the rest of the book. 

“I intentionally focus on landscape when I write, because I think the places where we live

have a profound in�uence on who we are and how we behave,” Hicks said. 

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/read-it-former-scranton-professor-sets-debut-novel-in-familiar-nepa-landscape-1.2192041 3/7

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On The Record

The debut novel took a long time to come into being. As a child in White Plains, Hicks’

mother was a working-class Italian immigrant and his father worked in a factory and

then as a security guard. Hicks and his brother were the �rst in their family to go to

college. Originally, while working as a professor, Hicks wrote only academic work. 

“Then, in my 40s, I decided to stop being a writer who writes about writers and just be a

writer,” Hicks said. 

After writing and publishing short stories for a number of years, he decided to release a

collection of his work and came to a realization that went on to inform his novel’s

distinctive structure. 

“When I went to put them together in a collection ... there was a progression of a guy

who screws up his life to a guy who puts his life back together,” Hicks said. “So, I added

some stories or chapters to �ll in the gaps ... It’s called a ‘novel and stories,’ because

each chapter is its own story, but it still has a novel arc.”

The book was released May 1, keeping Hicks busy promoting it. 

“I’m very happy being a writer instead of an academic,” he said. “I much prefer the

writing life to the academic life ... This is my �rst big book tour. I’m 56 years old, and this

is the �rst time I really get to be an author.” 

As part of his book tour, Hicks gets to revisit old ties to the region. Hicks met his wife,

Cynthia, who also teaches at Regis University, while both worked at Marywood

University. She grew up in Kingston, so both are intimately familiar with the area and

excited to see family and former colleagues, he said.

Contact the writer:

pshaver@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127

‘White Plains’

Author: David Hicks

Pages: 280

Publisher:

Conundrum Press

Price: $15.99

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/read-it-former-scranton-professor-sets-debut-novel-in-familiar-nepa-landscape-1.2192041 6/7

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5/8/2018 Read It: Former Scranton professor sets debut novel in familiar NEPA landscape - Lifestyles - The Times-Tribune

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