Read classic literary interviews

The greatest writers on craft, process and the life behind the sentences. Curated from The Paris Review, The New Yorker and beyond. Fiction and poetry. Classic and contemporary. Start anywhere.

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Writing on a typewriter
The Art of Fiction

How the great fiction writers think about sentences, structure and the work. From The Paris Review’s legendary interview series.

Vladimir Nabokov
The Paris Review
Vladimir Nabokov
The Art of Fiction No. 40. On style, memory, butterflies and the sentence as architecture. One of the most celebrated interviews in literary history.
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 Ernest Hemingway
The Paris Review
Ernest Hemingway
The Art of Fiction No. 21. On the iceberg theory, writing standing up, and what it takes to get the words right. The interview that defined a generation of writers.
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 Jorge Luis Borges
The Paris Review
Jorge Luis Borges
The Art of Fiction No. 39. On labyrinths, blindness, and writing as a form of dreaming. Borges at his most lucid and strange.
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 Raymond Carver
The Paris Review
Raymond Carver
The Art of Fiction No. 76. On minimalism, alcohol, revision, and the weight of every word. Essential for anyone who writes short fiction.
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“I shape a heart from a headphone lead, toast a cup of warm water to no one, to anyone who feels this particular.”

David — ‘red eye’ — Tumbleweed Words

The Art of Poetry

Poets on the line, the breath, the silence between words. What makes a poem a poem.

The Paris Review
W. H. Auden
The Art of Poetry No. 17. On photography as voyeurism, the camera as infernal machine, and why a reporter ought to be able to remember what matters.
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The Paris Review · 2026
Alice Oswald
The Art of Poetry No. 119. “I wanted a poem that would turn with snares and cinches, that would elapse very fast. I wanted the poem to drain through your fingers like sand.”
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The Paris Review
Carl Phillips
The Art of Poetry No. 103. On being candid and private at the same time, identity, and why his professor said: “I’m not interested in your feelings. I’m interested in your thoughts.”
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The Paris Review
Terrance Hayes
The Art of Poetry No. 111. On race, form, and the freedom inside constraint. One of the most important American poets working today.
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Essential Essays & Culture

Landmark essays on writing, race, identity, and the literary life. Pieces that changed the conversation.

The New Yorker · 1962
James Baldwin — Letter from a Region in My Mind
The essay that became The Fire Next Time. On race, religion, and American identity. One of the greatest pieces of nonfiction ever published.
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The New Yorker
Culture — Latest Fiction, Poetry & Criticism
The New Yorker’s culture section. New fiction, poetry, book reviews and essays. Updated daily.
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NewPages
Guide to Literary Magazines
The most comprehensive directory of literary magazines accepting submissions. Where to send your fiction and poetry.
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Literary Hub · 2026
The Most Anticipated Poetry of 2026
The year’s most exciting new poetry collections. Larry Levis reissued, Alice Oswald interviewed, and the poets to watch.
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