Photo Courtesy of UMN College of Liberal Arts
Patricia Hampl ’64
- What are you doing currently?
- I’m a writer and have published 9 books (2 poetry, 7 essays, and memoirs), as well as various pieces in magazines–The New Yorker, Paris Review, New York Times, etc. I graduated from Vis in 1964–wow, that sounds historical. I attended the Fairmount Avenue school, a magical place.
- How has your experience at Visitation shaped your life?
- That’s easy. The English courses I took at Vis, especially those taught by the magnificent Sister Mary Regina, set my course as a writer for life. She had us reading serious “grown-up” novels as freshmen, and had a brilliant editorial mind. I learned how to write sentences from her. And Sister Peronne Marie, my French teacher, was equally influential. These women, though strictly cloistered, opened the world to and for me.
- What would your advice be to current students at Vis?
- I’m not good at advice! I’m better at encouragement, and would only say drink it all in–it’s an extraordinary tradition.