Last year was a big one in the writing world, including newly-discovered titles from beloved authors and the appointment of the first Latino U.S. Poet Laureate. But a new year is upon us, which means anticipated new books in 2016 by many authors we’ve followed over the years. We dipped into our archives for insights about writing from five authors featured on the list. What will you write this year?
Authors with new books in 2016
Elizabeth Strout
2016 title: My Name is Lucy Barton
In The Writer: Elizabeth Strout is there
On humanizing characters: “It’s the ability to imagine very deeply. It’s kind of like drilling down. I’ve gotten under the topsoil. Now I’ve got to go under the next layer, under the next layer, and so on.”
Hannah Pittard
2016 title: Listen to Me
In The Writer: Motivated by sound
On revision: “The way that I write is how I hear it in my head, and my form of revision, what I am able to do on my own … is on the line level, at the sentence level.”
Dana Spiotta
2016 title: Innocents and Others
In The Writer: Writers on Writing
The most important lesson she has learned about writing: ”
A writer once told me there is only one way to create: as if your life depends on it, which it does.”
Dana Gioia
2016 title: 99 Poems: New and Selected
In The Writer: Collaborating with language
On getting started: “My creative process is odd to explain. I never really choose a topic for a poem. Nor do I choose a form. The poem chooses me.”
Ramona Ausubel
2016 title:
In The Writer: Short story – sweet advice
On inspiration: “When I was in college, one of my writing teachers assigned ‘Pastoralia’ by George Saunders. It felt as if the story stood up and punched me in the face with its sad, funny greatness.”
