{"id":14691,"date":"2026-03-31T08:48:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/?page_id=14691"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:49:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:49:02","slug":"david-lawrence-morse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/david-lawrence-morse\/","title":{"rendered":"David Lawrence Morse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I wrote The Occident<\/em> while trying to make sense of my own mortality. I found myself sliding, somewhat unwillingly, from a settled adulthood into middle age, dealing with those small rebellions of the body that begin as inconveniences and gradually become liabilities. Around the same time, my father\u2019s memory began to slip. What had once been occasional lapses deepened, over the course of a few years, into dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I came across a review by Tim Flannery in The New York Review of Books of The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies <\/em>by Bert H\u00f6lldobler and Edward O. Wilson. Flannery\u2019s review described a species of ant with a class of designated \u201cundertakers\u201d who identify dead ants by detecting a chemical\u2014oleic acid\u2014released during decomposition. If you apply that chemical to a living ant, it doesn\u2019t matter that the ant is still alive and kicking. The undertakers treat it as dead and carry it off for burial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about that. There was something comic and unsettling in the image\u2014these efficient little morticians, calmly removing ants that were still very much alive. It felt like a way into the book: a system that operates with total confidence, even when it\u2019s wrong, and a culture that prefers not to look too closely at what happens to the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where Surge came from\u2014the ant morticians of The Occident<\/em>\u2019s fictional city of Port Union\u2014and that city\u2019s broader obsession, in the novel, with hiding corpses at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I was finishing the book, my father fell, slipped into a coma, and died a few days later. That experience found its way into the novel more directly. And so it is in The Occident<\/em> that the protagonist must reckon with his own father\u2019s death as I reckoned with mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another thread running through the book. The protagonist is an urban planner and architect, so he spends a lot of time thinking not only about the decay of bodies but also of buildings\u2014how they\u2019re designed, how they age, and what happens when the systems meant to support them begin to fail. To write those sections, I traveled to cities across the Midwest\u2014Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto\u2014and spent time in large public housing developments built in the 1950s and 60s. I spoke with residents, housing advocates, policy leaders, and architects. I wanted to understand how a set of decisions, made over time, shapes the built environment and threatens to define the lives of those inside it, and how people find ways to push back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A different kind of influence comes from the church. I\u2019m no longer religious, but I grew up on stories of the flood, the plagues, the Leviathan, the burning bush. My Sunday School teachers did their best to soften those stories, but they didn\u2019t succeed. Something in those myths remained disturbing. In The Occident<\/em>, and in my earlier story collection, The Book of Disbelieving<\/em>, I keep returning to that feeling\u2014that sense of terror and awe, of metaphysical bewilderment\u2014that comes with encountering forces that defy explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After so much time in the realm of fable and invention, I try in life to stay grounded in the tangible world: playing with my dogs, walking the aisles of secondhand shops, learning to cook new foods, renovating old houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from south Georgia, David Lawrence Morse studied in Russia after the collapse of communism, cleaned toilets in Yosemite, and taught English then lived on a rice farm in the foothills of Yamaguchi, Japan, before earning an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan. His first collection of stories, The Book of Disbelieving<\/em>, won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and was published by Sarabande Books. His short fiction has also garnered the O. Henry Prize and the Calvino Prize and has appeared in numerous literary magazines. He is the director of the writing program at the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regal House Publishing is proud to bring you David Lawrence Morse’s The Occident<\/em> in the spring of 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote The Occident while trying to make sense of my own mortality. I found myself sliding, somewhat unwillingly, from a settled adulthood into middle age, dealing with those small rebellions of the body that begin as inconveniences and gradually become liabilities. Around the same time, my father\u2019s memory began to slip. What had once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-14691","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9DpGh-3OX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1169,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/gregory-wolos\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":0},"title":"Gregory Wolos","author":"Jaynie","date":"December 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Retired from many years as an educator in upstate New York, Gregory Wolos currently resides in a small New England town, where his daily regimen includes writing, running, and tending grandchildren. More than seventy of his short stories have been published or are forthcoming in print and online journals such\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Regal House author Gregory Wolos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gregory-Wolos.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gregory-Wolos.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gregory-Wolos.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gregory-Wolos.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12855,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/heather-bell-adams\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":1},"title":"Heather Bell Adams","author":"Jaynie","date":"August 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Judge of our 2023 W. S. Porter Prize Heather Bell Adams is the author of\u00a0Maranatha Road, winner of the IPPY Gold Medal for the Southeast, and\u00a0The Good Luck Stone, winner of the Next Generation Best Historical Novel. Her work, which has been awarded the Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Rose Post\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HBA2_J.B.-Haygood-Photography-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9419,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/carol-lahines\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":2},"title":"Carol LaHines","author":"Jaynie","date":"May 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"For Carol LaHines, the most affecting stories are those that are leavened with a sardonic sensibility.\u00a0 Italo Calvino, one of her favorite writers, notes \u201cth[e] particular connection between melancholy and humor,\u201d speaking of how great writing \u201cforegrounds [with] tiny, luminous traces that counterpoint the dark catastrophe.\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019s always veered toward\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/author-photo-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/author-photo-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/author-photo-4.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/author-photo-4.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/author-photo-4.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13148,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/david-tucker\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":3},"title":"David Tucker","author":"Jaynie","date":"April 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Winning recipient of our 2024 Terry J. Cox Poetry Award This is David\u00a0Tucker\u2019s third collection of poems. His first book,\u00a0Late for Work, won the Bakeless Poetry Prize, selected by Philip Levine, and was published by Houghton Mifflin. He also won a national chapbook contest held by Slapering Hol Press, for\u00a0Days\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/thumbnail_IMG_1999-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9425,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/jay-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":4},"title":"J. P. White","author":"Jaynie","date":"May 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I grew up in a sailing family on Lake Erie.\u00a0 No matter where I am, I am never that far from the memory of that world.\u00a0 My poetry and fiction nearly always circle back to elemental forces I was first exposed to as a child. \u00a0When nothing else makes sense\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_0755bw-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":953,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/fred-skolnik\/","url_meta":{"origin":14691,"position":5},"title":"Fred Skolnik","author":"Jaynie","date":"October 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fred Skolnik was born in New York City and has lived in Israel since 1963. He is best known as the editor in chief of the 22-volume second edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, winner of the 2007 Dartmouth Medal. He is also the author of The Other Shore (Aqueous Books,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Regal House author Fred Skolnik","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/fred_skolnik_gray-238x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14696,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14691\/revisions\/14696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}