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Aspects of the Novel (Penguin Classics)

Collection of literary lectures by E.M. Forster, published in 1927. For the purposes of his study, Forster defines the novel as "any fictitious prose work over 50,000 words." Forester's wit and lively, informed originality have made this study of the novel a classic. Avoiding the chronological approach of what he calls "pseudoscholarship," Forster freely examines elements that all English-language novels have in common: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern and rhythm.

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How Novels Work

Never has contemporary fiction been more widely discussed and passionately analysed; recent years have seen a huge growth in the number of reading groups and in the interest of a non-academic readership in the discussion of how novels work. Drawing on his weekly Guardian column, 'Elements of Fiction', John Mullan examines novels mostly of the last ten years, many of which have become firm favourites with reading groups. He reveals the rich resources of novelistic technique, setting recent fiction alongside classics of the past. Nick Hornby's adoption of a female narrator is compared to Daniel Defoe's; Ian McEwan's use of weather is set against Austen's and Hardy's; Carole Shield's chapter divisions are likened to Fanny Burney's. Each section shows how some basic element of fiction is used. Some topics (like plot, dialogue, or location) will appear familiar to most novel readers; others (metanarrative, prolepsis, amplification) will open readers' eyes to new ways of understanding and appreciating the writer's craft. How Novels Work explains how the pleasures of novel reading often come from the formal ingenuity of the novelist. It is an entertaining and stimulating exploration of that ingenuity. Addressed to anyone who is interested in the close reading of fiction, it makes visible techniques and effects we are often only half-aware of as we read. It shows that literary criticism is something that all fiction enthusiasts can do. Contemporary novels discussed include: Monica Ali's Brick Lane; Martin Amis's Money; Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin; A.S. Byatt's Possession; Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club; J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace; Michael Cunningham's The Hours; Don DeLillo's Underworld; Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White; Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love; Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections; Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; Patricia Highsmith's Ripley under Ground; Alan Hollinghurst's The Spell; Nick Hornby's How to Be Good; Ian McEwan's Atonement; John le Carré's The Constant Gardener; Andrea Levy's Small Island; David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; Andrew O'Hagan's Personality; Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red; Ann Patchett's Bel Canto; Ruth Rendell's Adam and Eve and Pinch Me; Philip Roth's The Human Stain; Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated; Carol Shields's Unless; Zadie Smith's White Teeth; Muriel Spark's Aiding and Abetting; Graham Swift's Last Orders; Donna Tartt's The Secret History; William Trevor's The Hill Bachelors; and Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road .

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Ernest Hemingway on Writing

Selections from Hemingway's letters, articles, and fiction outline his views on the purpose of writing, and on the qualities of a writer, subjects, characters, and technique.

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Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2009: A Directory for Writers, Artists, Playwrights, Designers, Illustrators and Photographers (Writers' & Artists' Yearbook)

The bestselling guide to markets in all areas of the media, completely revised and updated, and this year in its 102nd edition. New articles include: Foreword by Kate Mosse Notes from a successful mind, body and spirit author - William Bloom Notes from a successful cross genre writer - Neil Gaiman Notes from a passionate poet - Benjamin Zephaniah Writing for soaps - Mary Cutler Ebooks - Stephen Cole Books published from blogs - Scott Pack Contains information on a huge range of topics including copyright, finance, submitting a manuscript, e-publishing, prizes and awards.

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The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry

The success of the writing courses at UEA belies the myth that writing can't be taught. This coursebook takes aspiring writers through three stages of practice: Gathering - getting started, learning how to keep notes, making observations and using memory; Shaping - looking at structure, point of view, character and setting; and Finishing - being your own critic, joining workshops, finding publishers. Throughout exercises and activities encourage writers to develop their skills. Contributions from forty authors provide a unique and generous pool of information, experience and advice. This is the perfect book for people who are just starting to write as well as for those who want some help honing work already completed. It will suit people writing for publication or just for their own pleasure, those writing on their own or writing groups.

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The Paris Review Interviews: v. 3 (Paperback)

This is the third volume of the acclaimed "Paris Review Interviews", described by Gary Shteyngart as a 'colossal literary event'.Since "The Paris Review" was founded in 1953, it has given us invaluable conversations with the greatest writers of our age, vivid self-portraits that are themselves works of finely-crafted literature. The magazine has spoken with most of the world's leading novelists, poets and playwrights, and the interviews themselves have come to be recognised as classic words of literature in their own right. The series as a whole is indispensable for all writers and readers.This new volume in the series builds on the success and acclaim of the first two editions. It includes interviews with: Ralph Ellison; Salman Rushdie; Norman Mailer; Margaret Atwood; Chinua Achebe; and, Joyce Carol Oates, among many others.

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The Paris Review Interviews: v. 2

Volume One received blanket review coverage and was acclaimed by readers and critics alike. Word about The Paris Review is spreading more and more widely. Graham Greene, William Faulkner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Philip Larkin, Raymond Carver, Philip Roth and Toni Morrison.This is a second volume of fascinating interviews from one of the world's best loved literary magazines. The encounters between The Paris Review and the world's leading writers have elicited some of the most revelatory and revealing thoughts from the literary masters of our age. Entertaining and thought-provoking, it is essential reading for anyone who cares about writers and writing.

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The Paris Review Interviews: v. 1

How do great writers do it? From James M Cain's hard-nosed observation that "writing a novel is like working on foreign policy. There are problems to be solved. It's not all inspirational," to Joan Didion's account of how she composes a book - "I constantly retype my own sentences. Every day I go back to page one and just retype what I have. It gets me into a rhythm." - "The Paris Review" has elicited some of the most revelatory and revealing thoughts from the literary masters of our age. For more than half a century, the magazine has spoken with most of our leading novelists, poets and playwrights, and the interviews themselves have come to be recognised as classic works of literature, an essential and definitive record of the writing life. Now, Paris Review editor Philip Gourevitch introduces an entirely original selection of sixteen of the most celebrated interviews. Often startling, always engaging, these encounters contain an immense scope of intelligence, personality, experience and wit from the likes of Elizabeth Bishop, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Rebecca West and Billy Wilder. This is an indispensible book for all writers and readers.

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Letters to a Young Poet

Drawn by some sympathetic note in one of his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes. From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. An accompanying chronicle of Rilke's life shows what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote these letters.