How Literature Inspires Empathy
The Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Al Aswany explains how one word in Dostoyevsky’s novel The House of the Dead showed him how literature can help us understand one another.
By Heart
Authors share and discuss their all-time favorite passages in literature.
How Writers Can Find Meaning in Nonsense
The author Jesse Ball discusses Lewis Carroll's ‘Jabberwocky’ and how precise prose doesn’t always make for powerful work.
How Writing Achieves Grace
The author Mary-Beth Hughes discusses how Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel The Blue Flower showed her that words can dance.
For Readers, Writing Is a Process of ‘Emotional Osmosis’
The author Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses how his novel The Sympathizer is the product of decades of enjoying other works.
When Writers Put Themselves Into the Story
Joshua Cohen, the author of Book of Numbers, discusses Dostoyevsky’s The Double, in which the author becomes a presence in the novella.
To Write a Great Essay, Think and Care Deeply
The nonfiction writer Lucas Mann offers advice for essayists worried about whether they have anything interesting to say.
Writing Is the Process of Abandoning the Familiar
The novelist and editor Anna North discusses the Odyssey’s timeless lesson about leaving the comforts of home.
Writing Should Be a Continued Exploration
Mark Z. Danielewski discusses how the interplay of words and images can open up new ways of perceiving both literature and the world.
Writers Should Look for What Others Don't See
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic discusses the importance of noticing hidden truths—from the horrors of war to the mundane aspects of daily life.
Karl Ove Knausgaard on the Power of Brevity
The Norwegian author, known for the multivolume autobiography My Struggle, finds inspiration in the restraint of the tale of Cain and Abel.