Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich’s latest novel…takes the idea of a ‘retrieval of history’ seriously – not just in its pale liberal version (‘memory’), but as the ...
In the beginning Samuel Orr and Anna Stuart, two of the main protagonists of this novel, have nonchalant sex in Belfast. Lots of nonchalant sex. On the sly. In her ...
The beating heart of these poems is music, not least because of the poet’s own cross-genre creative output and a song’s uncanny ability to situate the reader immediately in a ...
At home I was stubborn and irrational, rejecting all the evidence that would contradict the one belief in which I had invested myself.
To access ...
She is right; research can be a double-edged sword. Too little of it and you are left with sketchy facts and errors that weaken your plot’s credibility. Continue ...
Every writer dreams of reaching out to readers across cultures. We write in the hope that stories seeped in universal human emotions – love, hate, anger, joy, sadness – will ...
In order to write well, in order to create stories or poetry or music or art, the artist must make an effort to live consciously. Finding the time to get ...
New Mexico proudly calls itself a tri-cultural state where people from all three cultures try their best to understand and respect differences. Even if there are occasional moments of discord… ...
Women who defy conventional definitions of “likeability” have a certain unforgettable quality. In literature as in life, they are far more memorable than their bland counterparts. Continue Reading ...
Refugees and their stories have featured in literature from time immemorial. They are cast in heroic roles in the Bible and the Koran. Continue Reading Stories of Flight
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When I first read this piece I immediately felt alert, tense, curious, invited to reread, to guess, to be bounced about like a pinball on a fast glittery ride. ...
Whether you pound away at the keys with an imaginary reader in mind or not, the stories you write will eventually find their way in the world. For every book, ...
…the movie adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel – got me thinking about the tricky leap the printed word makes to the silver screen. Continue Reading From ...
Perhaps what is most refreshing though, particularly for a writer of his stature, is his reiterated belief that literature is still, and will continue to remain, relevant, and important, in ...
Fiction is not a repository of answers to our problems. You simply set out to tell a good story and hope that it speaks to people no matter who they ...
Grief, while hard to bear in life, often makes better fodder for fiction than happiness. Continue Reading Less Happiness Makes Great Literature?
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On a residency, perspective dawns. The work is all that matters, you realize. The rest is noise. Continue Reading In Praise of Residencies
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A writing career requires, no less than in any other field, the ability to network. Continue Reading Networking for Writers
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Before my first novel came out I virtually never used social media. Continue Reading Social Media for Writers
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One of the pleasures of writing fiction is the freedom you have to play around with time. Continue Reading Time Travel
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