Description
Book SynopsisInterviews from the Edge presents a selection of conversations, drawn from 50 years of the international journal New Orleans Review, that dive head-first into the most enduring aesthetic and social concerns of the last half century.
From reflections on the making of literature and films to personal accounts of writing inside racial divides and working against capital punishment, the writers, poets, and activists featured in this book offer not only a fresh perspective on our present struggles but also perhaps a way through themfor writers and readers alike.
I think it's frightfully important, and this is really much more difficult than it sounds, only to say what you absolutely believe. Christopher Isherwood
Most American writers probably do not think of their writing as a kind of activism. And it shouldn't have to beI don't think we can impose that on writersbut it can be. I think for many writers, the ones I admireit is. Vi
Trade Review
An anthology that examines both the art of literature and the social issues of the last 50 years. * The Writer *
Focus[ing] on both the subjects' artistic output and personal engagement with racism, sexism, capital punishment . . . [t]hese unusually candid conversations with authors . . . offer perspectives on aesthetics and the realities of resistance that will appeal to a range of writers and readers. * Library Journal *
A fascinating half century of conversations with some of the most influential writers of the last hundred years . . . a brilliant work of depth and scope. * Seattle Book Review *
Writers of all genres will be inspired by discussions with twenty-four authors and activists . . . who share their unique perspectives on a wide range of topics covering the aesthetic and social aspects of writing. * Poets & Writers *
Table of Contents
Introduction Mark Yakich (New Orleans Review Editor, 2012-present) and John Biguenet (New Orleans Review Editor, 1980-1992) The Interviews Ernest Gaines (1969) (Interviewed by Gregory Fitz Gerald and Peter Marchant) Joseph Heller (1971) (Interviewed by Alexis Gonzalez and John Mosier) Christopher Isherwood (1975) (Interviewed by Sarah Smith and Marcus Smith) Anaïs Nin (1976) (Interviewed by Jeffrey Bailey) Lina Wertmüller (1976) (Interviewed by Ernest Ferlita, S.J. and John Navone, S.J.) Bertrand Tavernier (1978) (Interviewed by John Mosier) Eudora Welty (1978) (Interviewed by Jeanne Rolfe Nostrandt) James Tate (1980) (Interviewed by Joe David Bellamy) Jorge Luis Borges (1982) (Interviewed by John Biguenet and Tom Whalen) Catharine Stimpson (1984) (Interviewed by Mark Lussier and Peggy McCormack) Carolyn Heilbrun (1985) (Interviewed by Mark Lussier and Peggy McCormack) Armando Valladares (1985) (Interviewed by William Marling) James Baldwin (1986) (Interviewed by David C. Estes) John Ashbery (1990) (Interviewed by Paul Munn) Valerie Martin (1994) (Interviewed by Mary A. McCay and Christine Wiltz) Jack Gilbert (1996) (Interviewed by Ralph Adamo and John Biguenet) Sheila Heti (2013) (Interviewed by Ari Braverman) Susan Bernofsky (2013) (Interviewed by Clark Allen) Francine Prose (2014) (Interviewed by Ari Braverman) Harold Jaffe (2014) (Interviewed by Robin Andreasen) Yuri Herrera (2018) (Interviewed by Elizabeth Sulis Kim) Viet Thanh Nguyen (2018) (Interviewed by Elizabeth Sulis Kim) Luisa Valenzuela (2018) (Interviewed by Elizabeth Sulis Kim) Sister Helen Prejean (2018) (Interviewed by Mark Yakich) Acknowledgments Index
