ALUMNI PROFILE
scott kenemore ’96 Zombie Novelist Scott Kenemore ’96 credits his success as a zombie novelist to the instructors he had growing up in Indianapolis and attending Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. PostBrebeuf, Kenemore majored in English at Kenyon College, then earned his M.A. from Columbia University. Kenemore currently resides in Chicago, but he also made a trip back to his alma mater to speak to current Brebeuf students about the always-challenging life as a writer. He has fond memories of his time at Brebeuf: playing the drums in “Godspell,” forming a jazz band trio and performing at a society wedding, and suffering through summer Physical Education with the indomitable Ms. Pat Watko. W hen did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? “I had really amazing teachers that influenced me and pushed me to be great: Susan Mayne at Orchard, and
Greg Foote and Charles Fanara at Brebeuf. I even dedicated my latest book to Greg Foote [who retired from the Brebeuf Jesuit English department in 1997]. They influenced me and pushed me to be great. I was also influenced by authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King.” Why zombies? “I remember being 10 years old and riding to the Carmel Library. I checked out a book by H.P. Lovecraft. I read the first two stories, and when I put the book away, I remember thinking to myself that this is the best thing anyone has ever done. Ever. Scary stories are an artform in which Americans really excel. The British were the best in the 19th century, but this is now an area that America is excelling in. I like zombies because they are the most blue-collar; vampires are prissy.”
Scott Kenemore ’96 with a zombie at a book trailer shoot.
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BYLINES
FALL 2014
W hat is your work schedule like when you’re writing? “Is there a schedule? I write when I get inspired. I write best under pressure; I have an idea on a number of words per day and just write as much as I can. I write standing up – it helps to keep the blood flowing. I have an oblong container for women’s shoes that I use for a laptop stand. It’s about four-feet high and I use it as a desk. When the Chicago Tribune did a story on ‘Zombie, Illinois’, the reporter made fun of it.” W hen did you write your first book? “I wrote my own choose-your-own adventure book when I was 11 or 12 years old. I had been trying to write a book for a long time, and as a little kid, I didn’t understand what the parameters were. I had adventurous optimism. I got my first agent my senior year of college, but my first book wasn’t published until eight years after I graduated [from Kenyon]. As you you get older, you learn how important it is to work hard. Being smart still means having to work hard.” H ow do you spend your time when you’re not writing? “My hobby is playing the drums. I actually played while at Brebeuf and remember performing on them in ‘Godspell’ the musical. I took summer gym in order to make room in my schedule for the orchestra. I vividly remember summers on the track with Ms. Watko.”