Writing for an Audience of One
The novelist Nell Zink discusses the psalm that inspired her, and what she learned about the solitary artistic process from her Catholic upbringing.
By Heart
Authors share and discuss their all-time favorite passages in literature.
Emily Dickinson’s Mysterious ‘You’
The poem “Wild Nights! - Wild Nights!” taught the novelist Emma Donoghue about sexuality, ambiguity, and intimacy.
Characters Don't Change, but Readers Do
The novelist and poet Alice Mattison discusses finding inspiration in the unconventional short stories of Grace Paley.
Art Should Be Uncomfortable
For the writer Mark Haddon, Miles Davis’s seminal jazz album Bitches Brew is a reminder of the beauty and power of challenging works.
The Lorax and Literature’s Moral Obligation
Despite critics’ dismissal of activist-minded fiction, the author Lydia Millet believes that Dr. Seuss’s classic children’s book is powerful because of its message, not in spite of it.
To Write, Stop Thinking
The writer Kathryn Harrison believes that words flow best when the opaque, unknowable aspects of the mind take over.
The Deeper Truth of Fiction
Dostoyevsky taught the writer Charles Bock that inventive writing is the most effective way to conjure reality.
When Art Is an Act of Survival
Melissa Broder of So Sad Today finds solace in Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death and in her own creative process.
Can Writing Be Both True and Beautiful?
The author Ethan Canin probes the depths of a single sentence in Saul Bellow’s short story “A Silver Dish.”
Good People Don’t Make Good Characters
Philip Roth taught the author Tony Tulathimutte that writers should aim to show all aspects of their subjects—not only the morally upstanding side.