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John Updike, Anne Rice, Anne Tyler, Cormac McCarthy... they all got their start as fiction writers here at Knopf. Who will be the bestsellers of tomorrow? We can't be sure, but the new generation includes a promising group of wordsmiths. Here, these men and women, the newest members of the Knopf family, share their musings on what it takes to tell a wonderful tale. Just scroll down to discover a new voice we think you'll want to read for years to come.  Philip Galanes, author of Father's Day"Stripping the anxiety away from the thing I wanted most—trying it on, like a new pair of pants, I rehearsed to be a writer. Eventually, I stopped deleting. I can't begin to explain how it happened because I am the J. Alfred Prufrock of East 10th Street. I still suspect every page is worse than the last, but somehow I grew bolder." Read the complete essay.  Julie Orringer, author of How to Breathe Underwater" I often feel as if the real story is eluding me, as if the draft in front of me is light-years distant from that first idea, that early luminous secret." Read the complete essay.  Vendela Vida, author of And Now You Can Go"Whenever I tell one of my high school students that they should consider cutting a paragraph or two and they're reluctant, I say, "Listen, I cut 437 pages of a novel." They say, "What?" and look at me like I'm a lunatic, and then end up cutting at least a page of their story." Read the complete essay.  Benjamin Cavell, author of Rumble, Young Man, Rumble"Writing every day is vital to the life of a writer in part because, before one is published, there are very few concrete indications that one is in fact a writer." Read the complete essay.  Joshua Furst, author of Short People"Because of the close identification I made as a child with the spiritual warrior after whom I'm named, I am motivated by the belief that there are things--ideas, emotions, irrational truths--that can only be communicated indirectly and these are the things people (myself included) most need to hear." Read the complete essay. |
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