Series: Why I Write

Devotion is short enough to devour at one enjoyable sitting and thought-provoking enough to deserve re-reading.” —Suzi Feay, Financial Times Devotion shows rather than tells what it means to give a life to writing.” —Katherine Cooper, Hyperallergic A work of creative brilliance may seem like magic—its source a mystery, its impact unexpectedly stirring. How does an artist accomplish such an...

The National Book Award-winning author of Year of the Monkey, Just Kids, and M Train offers a rare, intimate account of her own creative process. Devotion is short enough to devour at one enjoyable sitting and thought-provoking enough to deserve re-reading.”—Suzi Feay, Financial Times “Devotion shows rather than tells what it means to give a life to writing.”—Katherine Cooper, Hyperallergic...

The second book in the Why I Write series provides generous insight into the creative process of the award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard. "Why I Write" may prove to be the most difficult question Karl Ove Knausgaard has struggled to answer, yet it is central to the project of one of the most influential writers working today. For the...

From a celebrated critic, a heartfelt and adventurous reflection on the art of writing about art. "Essential for fans of Marcus and fruitful reading for anyone reflecting on the mysteries of art."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Writers write. They can't help it. They can't not." In this spirited book, the revered cultural critic Greil Marcus explains his compulsion as a yearning...

An illuminating reflection on the creative process from acclaimed fiction writer, essayist, and translator Lydia Davis When asked why she writes, Lydia Davis confesses that the question makes her uncomfortable. Maybe she would rather not know. Instead, Davis considers how she writes her stories, how other writers write, and what insights the how might provide into the why. In this...

In this third Why I Write volume, Eileen Myles addresses the social, political, and aesthetic conditions that shape their work. "A sharply etched, unvarnished self-portrait." —Kirkus Reviews “[Myles] has a good time journeying through Hell, and like a hip Virgil, . . . is happy to show us the way.” —NPR "This is signature Myles: the unconventional syntax, the jazzy...

From a celebrated critic, a heartfelt and adventurous reflection on the art of writing about art. Essential for fans of Marcus and fruitful reading for anyone reflecting on the mysteries of art. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Writers write. They can't help it. They can't not." In this spirited book, the revered cultural critic Greil Marcus explains his compulsion as...

An exquisite meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit, from Pulitzer Prize winner and nineteenth U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. Trethewey doesn't just explore the reasons why she writes. She also offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories. —Shannon Carlin, Time Searching and intimate, this impresses. —Publishers...

U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award, Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing. “Her enduring message—that writing can be redemptive—resonates: ‘To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert ‘I am.’’ The result is a rousing testament to the power...

An exquisite meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit, from Pulitzer Prize winner and nineteenth U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. "Trethewey doesn't just explore the reasons why she writes. She also offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories." — Shannon Carlin, Time "Searching and intimate, this impresses."...

In the fourth volume in the Why I Write series, the iconic Samuel Delany remembers fifty years of writing and shaping the world of speculative fiction. Science fiction dwells mostly in the realm of possibility, where mysteries proliferate nevertheless, meaning is never static, and “time and history have convinced us that things are not as they seem.” So too does...