How War Literature Occupies the Realms of Both Fact and Fiction
Sometimes in interviews I catch myself speaking of my book of short stories about the Iraq War as though it is a kind of literary journalism. I want people to...
On Reconnecting With My Korean Heritage Through Food
Korean food nourishes me in a way nothing else can—the kind of fulfillment you experience so deeply that using words to describe it seems like a disservice....
Victoria Shorr on the Art of the Novella
Penelope Fitzgerald wrote novellas. So did Caroline Blackwood, J.L. Carr, Edith Wharton, and so do I. I never mean to. I don’t start out thinking...
Emma Straub’s Advice for What to Wear to a Book Launch
One of the great perks of being a writer is that you can wear whatever you want—think of Grady Trip’s bathrobe in Wonder Boys, comfort over all. However,...
Vanessa Hua on Writing About the Forgotten Women in Mao’s Inner Circle
Vanessa Hua’s Forbidden City is narrated by a courageous, risk-taking sixteen-year-old whose life in a small village in China is up-ended when she is...
On the Politics of Caste and Feminine Joy in Satyajit Ray’s Classic Charulata
In a St. Louis library in 1990, I watched our people—speaking our language, eating with their hands—on an American big screen for the first time, in...
Seema Reza on the Joy of Being (Completely) Alone
When I was already beyond the acceptable age for make-believe, I invented a game called Apartment. Playing house a few years prior, I’d cooked dinner and...
The Atlantic is expanding its book coverage (which is good for everyone).
I am, indeed, biased, but more book coverage by a prominent national magazine is a good thing for America. Sure, there are plenty of bad books (evil ones,...
The 6 Challenges of Writing a Second Novel
Writing your first story is a special experience. It brings many difficulties and challenges, but it also tends to carry itself (and you) along with a sense of...
