The authors of these twenty essays have each taught, at some point, in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. If the program as a whole is anything like the quality of these essays, then that is clearly an MFA program worth considering. Each of the essayists is also an author of novels and usually more than one collection of short stories. So this is not merely theoretical thoughts on writing we are dealing with. This is mostly hard won experience. But importantly, none of the authors is concerned with the mere basics of production. This isn’t a ‘how-to’ book for beginning writers. It is for writers who are thinking seriously about their work and some of the challenging issues that can arise in crafting a fine novel or short story.

Rather than recount the many articles that I found very useful here, I’d prefer to concentrate on one aspect that they all seem to share. When turning to examples, each of the authors draws upon great works of fiction. Typically an essay will look at three examples, perhaps from Virginia Woolf or Cormac McCarthy or Herman Melville or E.M. Forster. I so appreciate that. These, and others, are the authors I’d want to emulate in my writing. And they are the authors whom these essayists as fiction writers seek to emulate, in a way. It lends a degree of seriousness to the essays, but no more so than I think is appropriate for the endeavour of novel writing. Well worth reading. Recommended. ( )