My Imaginary File Cards
by Stephen Policoff
Stephen Policoff discusses the story origins of his latest novel.
Stephen Policoff discusses the story origins of his latest novel.
Dean Bakopoulos on Nicholas Delbanco’s generosity as a mentor and a teacher, as well as the gift of being offered a place at the table.
Writing in appreciation of Nicholas Delbanco’s short story “Departure,” Nina Buckless says, “We are offered a portrait in fragments, which collectively captures a family separated by the American landscape but held together by its matriarch.”
Travis Holland on Nicholas Delbanco as a master teacher, as well as Delbanco’s approach to running a writing workshop that matters: “This is good, now let’s make it better.”
Elizabeth Kostova on the lasting influence of Nicholas Delbanco, both in her work and in developing the habits of a writer. “We learned from him about the importance of persistence, as much as about prose style or character development.”
“William Gass’s ‘In the Heart of the Heart of the Country’ stands as an answer for what it means to write from the Midwest. Told in thirty-six discrete sections, this story is a devastatingly gorgeous meditation on loss and the rhythms of the Midwestern landscape.
“Writing a novel—for me, at least—is like answering a craigslist ad placed by a group of people seeking a roommate. You meet them; you like them; you move in; but within a short period of time, all of them have moved out, and new people have moved in, and these new people, it turns out, are the ones you’re going to live with for the next few years.”
“As the title suggests, ’55 Miles to the Gas Pump,’ while somewhat interested in the abuse and murder of women and the troubled marriage of Rancher Croom and Mrs. Croom, isn’t exactly about those things.”
“What happened is an anecdote. What someone felt about what happened is a story.”
Laura Valeri’s Get Writing prompt offers a game for understanding images—and, perhaps, ourselves
On Barthelme, that comforting surrealist.
The whole reason I started writing about this character Stet Looper came through an odd alignment of blunders.
