As the United States and China move toward an expansion of political and economic relations, interest in China and its culture has never been greater. Chinese Writers on Writing makes a contribution in illuminating this corner of the globe through the works of some of its finest writers. With more than half the works appearing in English for the first time, Chinese Writers on Writing features authors such as Mo Yan, whose book Red Sorghum was made into an award-winning movie by the same name; Lu Xun, known as the Chinese George Orwell; and Gao Xingjian, recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Li... View More...
The most trusted guide to publishing poetry Want to get your poetry published? There's no better tool for making it happen than Poet's Market 2019, which includes hundreds of publishing opportunities specifically for poets, including listings for book and chapbook publishers, print and online poetry publications, contests, and more. These listings include contact information, submission preferences, insider tips on what specific editors want, and--when offered--payment information. In addition to the completely updated listings, the 32nd edition of Poet's Market offers all-new articles devo... View More...
Human beings are interpreters.-When, what, and how do we interpret?-Which is more reliable: literal information or symbolic expression?-What consequences--in school and in all of life--are attached to our interpretative judgments?We find answers to these questions in stories. Beginning with the question "What do these stones mean?" in Joshua 4, Stones and Stories examines the elements, purposes, and effects of storytelling and story-writing. Written for high school students, Stones and Stories is filled with questions, writing suggestions, sample essays, and drawing exercises to promote meanin... View More...
This book, based on his writing seminars, research into dreams and creativity, and film development, is, as the New York Times states, "crammed with the sort of useful advice that it seems to take some people years to learn." View More...
Focusing on the big picture as well as the crucial details, Bell examines twelve stories by both established writers (including Peter Taylor, Mary Gaitskill, and Carolyn Chute) and his own former students. A story's use of time, plot, character, and other elements of fiction are analyzed, and readers are challenged to see each story's flaws and strengths. Careful endnotes bring attention to the ways in which various writers use language. Bell urges writers to develop the habit of thinking about form and finding the form that best suits their subject matter and style. His direct and practical a... View More...
One has to look no further than the audiences hungry for the narratives served up by Downton Abbey or Wolf Hall to know that the lure of the past is as seductive as ever. But incorporating historical events and figures into a shapely narrative is no simple task. The acclaimed novelist Christopher Bram examines how writers as disparate as Gabriel Garc a M rquez, David McCullough, Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, and many others have employed history in their work.Unique among the "Art Of" series, The Art of History engages with both fiction and narrative nonfiction to reveal varied strategies of inc... View More...
Robert Olen Butler, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, teaches graduate fiction at Florida State University -- his version of literary boot camp. In From Where You Dream, Butler reimagines the process of writing as emotional rather than intellectual, and tells writers how to achieve the dreamspace necessary for composing honest, inspired fiction. Proposing that fiction is the exploration of the human condition with yearning as its compass, Butler reinterprets the traditional tools of the craft using the dynamics of desire. Offering a direct view into the mind and craft of a literary mas... View More...
A sensitive and nuanced exploration of a seldom-discussed subject by an acclaimed novelistThe fourteenth volume in the Art of series conjures an ethereal subject: the idea of mystery in fiction. Mystery is not often discussed--apart from the genre--because, as Maud Casey says, "It's not easy to talk about something that is a whispered invitation, a siren song, a flickering light in the distance." Casey, the author of several critically acclaimed novels, reaches beyond the usual tool kit of fictional elements to ask the question: Where does mystery reside in a work of fiction? She takes us into... View More...
A sensitive and nuanced exploration of a seldom-discussed subject by an acclaimed novelistThe fourteenth volume in the Art of series conjures an ethereal subject: the idea of mystery in fiction. Mystery is not often discussed--apart from the genre--because, as Maud Casey says, "It's not easy to talk about something that is a whispered invitation, a siren song, a flickering light in the distance." Casey, the author of several critically acclaimed novels, reaches beyond the usual tool kit of fictional elements to ask the question: Where does mystery reside in a work of fiction? She takes us into... View More...
Scott F. Crider addresses the intelligent university student with respect and humor. A short but serious book of rhetoric, it is informed by both the ancient rhetorical tradition and recent discoveries concerning the writing process. Though practical, it is not simply a how-to manual; though philosophical, it never loses sight of writing itself. Crider combines practical guidance about how to improve an academic essay with reflection on the purpose--educational, political, and philosophical--of such improvement. View More...
The first work of nonfiction by Stacey D'Erasmo, author of the New York Times Notable Books Tea and The Sky Below"What is the nature of intimacy, of what happens in the space between us? And how do we, as writers, catch or reflect it on the page?" Stacey D'Erasmo's insightful and illuminating study examines the craft and the contradictions of creating relationships not only between two lovers but also between friends, family members, acquaintances, and enemies in fiction. She argues for a more honest, more complex portrait of the true nature of the connections and missed connections among char... View More...
A moving reflection on a subject that touches us all, by the bestselling author of Claire of the Sea LightEdwidge Danticat's The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story is at once a personal account of her mother dying from cancer and a deeply considered reckoning with the ways that other writers have approached death in their own work. "Writing has been the primary way I have tried to make sense of my losses," Danticat notes in her introduction. "I have been writing about death for as long as I have been writing." The book moves outward from the shock of her mother's diagnosis and sifts through... View More...
The fifteenth volume in the Art of series takes an expansive view of revision--on the page and in life In The Art of Revision: The Last Word, Peter Ho Davies takes up an often discussed yet frequently misunderstood subject. He begins by addressing the invisibility of revision--even though it's an essential part of the writing process, readers typically only see a final draft, leaving the practice shrouded in mystery. To combat this, Davies pulls examples from his novels The Welsh Girl and The Fortunes, as well as from the work of other writers, including Flannery O'Connor, Carmen Machado, and ... View More...
Poetry discovers and speaks a truth ordinary language cannot express. And the passionate message in Finding What You Didn't Lose is that we're all poets--capable of giving voice to such truth. Poet-teacher John Fox reveals how imagery, sound, metaphor, rhythm, and other poetic elements can he us tell our inner story, heal psychological wounds, discover spiritual connection, and develop the rich creative imagination that lies within us all. Transcending the traditional academic approach to poetry writing, Finding What You Didn't Lose deals with craft but, more importantly, guides readers to exp... View More...
St. Teresa of Avila has said that ''words lead to deeds...they prepare the soul, make it ready, and move it to tenderness.'' And contemporary novelist and essayist William Kittredge, when advising a younger writer, instructed him that ''what you do matters. What you do, right or wrong, has consequences, Brother.'' In this book, possibly the single best book ever written on the significance of great fiction writing and reading, John Gardner echoes these phrases with repeating power. Regarding fiction as a search for truth, a process of thinking; as joy and play in creation; and as serious artis... View More...
St. Teresa of Avila has said that ''words lead to deeds...they prepare the soul, make it ready, and move it to tenderness.'' And contemporary novelist and essayist William Kittredge, when advising a younger writer, instructed him that ''what you do matters. What you do, right or wrong, has consequences, Brother.'' In this book, possibly the single best book ever written on the significance of great fiction writing and reading, John Gardner echoes these phrases with repeating power. Regarding fiction as a search for truth, a process of thinking; as joy and play in creation; and as serious artis... View More...
This compilation of essays and reviews, gathered posthumously from the New York Times Book Review and other publications, solidifies John Gardner's legacy as a consummate teacher and controversial critic with a provocative sense of humor. Writing about his fellow craftsmen, John Gardner offers piercing insights into those whose works he admired and those whose works he didn't. In exacting unapologetic evaluations upon such writers as Saul Bellow, Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth, John Cheever, Larry Woiwode, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Updike, Gardner separates genuine fiction from fakery, carefu... View More...
