I believe craft is the way the writer makes magic, the gifts through which the writer transcends his or her limitations and participates in a power borrowed or stolen from the gods.—Stuart Dybek, interviewed by Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais

It was Salween River Fugue when I sent it to the publisher, which I liked because I thought it captured both the musical and the Burmese sides of the book. But every time I mentioned this name to anyone, they said, What?—Daniel Mason

Capote called In Cold Blood a nonfiction novel. It wasn’t that it was a new form in itself, but that he defined it as a new form.—Beverly Lowry, interviewed by Stephanie Gordon

The lyric image evokes an instant recognition, unlike exposition, which accrues differently. Image is supreme statement. It’s the lightning bolt instant when perception crosses over from intellectual wisdom to spiritual knowledge.—Maria Flook, interviewed by Sarah Anne Johnson

Human beings often think by analogy and by remembering and by comparing. So that when we’re faced with something new, we think, not even consciously, but subconsciously, “This is like—”—Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, interviewed by Sarah Ann Johnson

The thing I’ve always loved about Carver’s work is that he had this real appreciation for mystery in people’s lives—that moment when something inexplicable happens. In “Fat,” there’s a very strange encounter between a waitress and a grotesquely fat man. The story ends: “My life is going to change. I feel it.”—Dan Chaon, interviewed by Misha Angrist

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