I can't define myself as a political writer - I don't think I've earned it, and I don't function as a political writer in the way that many of the wr….

The point about sales is relevant because it suggests there are cultures out there that are supporting and consuming, on a vast scale, challenging wo….

It's a hard thing to examine and difficult to speak for other writers, but when I look at my own writing there is often too much reticence. And that'….

Evidently, there are many great American writers. But sometimes it can feel as though American fiction is dominated by relatively linear narrative fo….

The desire to be liked is acceptable in real life but very problematic in fiction. Pleasantness is the enemy of good fiction. I try to write on the p….

I write some art criticism, and one thing that's clear to me is that politics is fashionable in the American art world in a way it maybe isn't in Ame….

I'm often a little perplexed, when I read a review of a book, by the quotes that are pulled out as evidence of excellent prose. I don't think great n….

Fiction always reveals a lot about the person who is writing it. That's the scary thing. Not in a straightforward autobiographical sense. But the fla….

Translated literature can be fascinating. There's something so intriguing about reading the text second hand - a piece of prose that has already been….

I don't know why I write. The honest answer is that I don't have an answer. I wouldn't die if I couldn't write fiction. Actually keel over and die - ….

I don't speak any languages well enough to make an expert assessment on writing in translation, but since I'm interested in awkwardness in prose, I f….

I'm interested in dismantling the distinction between masculine and feminine writing both because I think it's a false distinction and, I think, ulti….

When I receive a box of my books, my impulse is to hide rather than display them. It always makes me very anxious that they send so many copies, beca….

Many novelists say, "I'm not a political novelist" - myself included. That's a standard, even a default position. Whereas that divide between art and….

I believe writers should be able to write about anything - anything - but there is also a sense in which your lived experience shapes what you write ….

There's a perception that good writing is writing which runs smoothly. But smooth-running prose can work against what you're trying to express in a n….