These conversations between John L'Heureux and Dikran Karagueuzian
investigate the nature of writing fiction and the writer's need to
write. They begin with a discussion of contemporary fiction, its
virtues and vices and its distinguished practitioners. And from
there
to writing novels as opposed to short stories and on to the social
life of the writer and the private life of L'Heureux. And finally
they
explore L'Heureux's years as Director of the Stanford Writing
Program
and his relationship with some of his better known students: Ron
Hansen, Allan Gurganus, Tobias Wolff, Harriet Doerr, Kathryn
Harrison,
Alice Hoffman, Stephanie Vaughn, David Henry Hwang, Jeffrey
Eugenides,
ZZ Packer, Bo Caldwell among others... with a glance cast at what
can
and can't be taught in a creative writing program.
Since 1973, John L'Heureux has taught fiction writing, the short
story, and dramatic literature in the English Department at
Stanford
University. He is the former Director of the Creative Writing
Program,
most recently 1993-94, 1996. He has served on both sides of the
writing desk: as staff editor and contributing editor for The
Atlantic
and as the author of seventeen books of poetry, fiction and non-
fiction. His stories have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire,
Harper's, The New Yorker, and have frequently been anthologized in
Best American Stories and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards.
Dikran Karagueuzian is the Director of CSLI Publications.
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction by Tobias Wolff
- Interview 1
- Interview 2
- Interview 3
- Interview 4
- Interview 5
- Interview 6
- Interview 7
- Selected Reviews of L'Heureux's Fiction
- Tiger White Collar
untitled
- Clang Birds
From Celibacy to Commitment
- Family Affairs/span>
Priests and Victims
- Jessica Fayer
A spare, tidy novel
- Desires
Short Stories Strung like Perfect Pearls
- A Woman Run Mad
Nothing Recedes like Excess
- Comedians
God the Meddler
- An Honorable Profession
Alone in the Classroom
- The Shrine at Altamira
Sanctified Madness
- The Handmaid of Desire
Textual Politics
- Having Everything
A Human Exploration
- The Miracle
Wonders Never Cease
January 2011