Varallo awarded Drue Heinz prize
By:
Andrea Bullard
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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"It's a funny thing to do while sitting at your computer," said Varallo. His short story collection "Out Loud" captivated best-selling author Scott Turrow, who selected the collection from almost 300 entries for the 28th annual Drue Heinz Literature Prize.
"I was on a bridge when I got the news that I'd won. I was trying to drive and somehow trying to tell my wife at the same time," said Varallo. The prize includes a $15,000 check and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, which will make his work accessible to readers around the world.
"Out Loud" is an anthology of 14 short stories, many of which are written from the perspective of socially squeamish adolescent boys.
"I'm most excited about writing about ordinary life, about choice and consequence, about how tough it is to be a human being," said Varallo. "You realize after a while that there are only certain things you can write about. I couldn't ever write a story about dinosaurs coming back to life or something."
Though a fair number of his protagonists are awkwardly laconic nerds, Varallo hopes that his readers can connect to some aspects of their circumstances.
"I never want to set up a character for ridicule. I want the readers to feel like every character could be them," he said.
His stories unfold in ordinary settings: college campuses, backyards and country club swimming pools across the humble state of Delaware. Varallo uses his backdrops to extract truths about a much less physical landscape: the human condition.
"The Fall of Rome," a story about a college student's attempt to convince a professor to change his grade, is condensed into just one hour of fictional time, but Varallo's emphasis on introspection and sensory detail transforms a seemingly insignificant event into something fantastically alive.
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