Many Things Are Wonderful
Ellen Prentiss Campbell meditates on the influence of teachers, fulfilling promises, and becoming who we’re meant to be in this homage to her teacher Sally Nash.
Ellen Prentiss Campbell meditates on the influence of teachers, fulfilling promises, and becoming who we’re meant to be in this homage to her teacher Sally Nash.
Joshua Bodwell on the stories we tell, literary coincidences, and a correction to Best American Short Stories of the Century (with footnotes).
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.
Valerie Laken on Nicholas Delbanco’s role as a mentor, and giving young writers the permission to dream: “He’s made a career of bringing together, supporting, and celebrating writers, and in doing that he made them all believe—not just in themselves, but in the value of literature itself.”
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.”
Kerry Neville Bakken offers a moving appreciation for her friend and former mentor, Frederick Busch, who passed away in 2006. Norton has just released a posthumous collection of his short fiction, The Stories of Frederick Busch, edited and with an introduction by Elizabeth Strout.
“Above all, it must be compelling,” James Salter told the Paris Review in 1993 when asked about his idea of the short story. “You’re sitting around the campfire of literature, so to speak, and various voices speak up out of the dark and begin talking. With some, your mind wanders or you doze off, but with others you are held by every word. The first line, the first sentence, the first paragraph, all have to compel you.” Long before I ever read those remarks by Salter, I’d already come under the influence of his short stories and, in particular, his […]
Christopher Hitchens died on December 15th of 2011. In honor of the year anniversary of Hitchens’s passing, Nick Papandreou remembers his long-time friend and fellow writer.
Do early heroes stand the test of time? Hemingway may be a young writer’s writer… who still keeps you late at the bar.
