Sitting on stage in front of more than 100 people at the Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, author Elizabeth Strout recalled a memory of a question she was asked in the past about why she does what she does. “I was being interviewed in New York on stage, and the interviewer said ‘what is it you want to accomplish with your writing?’” Strout said. “I said, ‘I want to record what people lie to their psychiatrist about.’” The concept of using fictional characters and stories to expose the flaws of humanity was one of the many subjects that Strout delved into during her talk Friday evening. The award-winning novelist was the first major artist featured at this year’s Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, which opened last Friday, and is the latest author to be invited to the 23-year-old festival, joining the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike and Michael Chabon. A native of Portland, Maine, Strout grew up on the East Coast. Her childhood home played a big role in shaping the setting and tone of her latest novel, 2013’s “The Burgess Boys,” which takes place in Shirley Falls, Maine and New York City. “It’s an American story in that we feel like we can change place a lot here, and that we can reinvent our lives if we just go someplace else,” Strout said. “But having lived in two entirely different environments, in Maine and New York City, I can say that the narrowest of human vision is everywhere.” In addition to “The Burgess Boys,” Strout wrote “Amy and Isabelle” in 1996, “Abide with Me” in 2006, and the Pulitzer Prize winning “Olive Kitteridge” in 2008, which has been adapted into an HBO mini-series, set for release this fall. One of the traits that all four of these novels have in common is their deeply flawed characters, which bring to light traits that her readers may not be entirely confortable with about themselves, she said. “I’m hoping that Jim Burgess with his terrible language, Bob [Burgess] and his smoking and drinking habits, and Olive with her outrageousness, you feel a sense of acceptance by the writer,” she said. The author recounted a memory from her childhood that helped establish her mindset of capturing reality, and the lunacy that often accompanies, in her stories. Following a service at her church, she overheard a conversation between her parents on the way home about one of the other members of the congregation, who wore a gigantic hat with decorations that Strout described as “fruit stuff.” While her mother mocked the women’s choice in accessories, her father said it wasn’t really their place to judge. “That juxtaposition of trying to be decent and not look down upon the experience of someone wearing a particular hat, and yet honestly observing it and recording it, it’s this kind of context that I have been struggling with as a long time as writer to convey that lack of judgment and truth of observation,” she said. Following her talk, Strout answered a myriad of questions from the audience. In response to a question about how she tackles novel writing, the author said she has a very informal process, writing for around three hours a day on whatever particular portion of the story is on her mind. “I never write an outline,” Strout said. “I just don’t like them, ever since the fourth-grade. It’s like I got car sick the first time I had to make one.” When asked about the literature she likes to read for pleasure, Strout listed off a number of acclaimed writers, such as Updike, Alice Munro and William Trevor. Strout closed her remarks by stating her hope that her readers can gain insight into themselves or their loved ones by reading one of her novels, which is the hope of anyone who devotes their life to the truth, she said. “Life if pretty lonely at times, but I think that’s OK, I don’t think it’s something to be afraid of,” Strout said. “I feel that, if you open the right book, you can have some friends.”