Narrative 10


Narrative poses ten questions about writing, obsession, life, and love.


  • Lynn Ahrens

    Narrative 10

    Never repeat rhymes, not once in an entire show.

  • Monica Ali

    Narrative 10

    At the age of twelve I knew how to lose myself in a book.

  • Jo Ann Beard

    Narrative 10

    I got to be the higher power, looking down on mice and friends.

  • Ann Beattie

    Narrative 10

    Time will say nothing but I told you so.

  • Jill Bialosky

    Narrative 10

    She’s informed so much of my being, for better or worse.

  • Amy Bloom

    Narrative 10

    I have a soft spot for Trollope’s dreadful Lizzie Greystock.

  • Chris Bohjalian

    Narrative 10

    I try to be at my desk by 7:45 or 8 a.m., and I write until early afternoon.

  • Vikram Chandra

    Narrative 10

    A friend of my father’s once told me, “You’ll never be a writer.”

  • David Corbett

    Narrative 10

    I’ve found that love has provided my life’s happiest moments.

  • Lacy Crawford

    Narrative 10

    What I wanted was to release my peers from their shame.

  • Justin Cronin

    Narrative 10

    My best ideas come when I’m aerobically hypnotized.

  • Liza Donnelly

    Narrative 10

    In life, my favorite character is my husband.

  • Andre Dubus III

    Narrative 10

    I don’t own a smartphone and never will. I’ve never sent a text.

  • Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenks

    Narrative 10

    Narrative was a dream we brought forth in perfect idleness.

  • Jennifer Egan

    Narrative 10

    “The role of the artist is to not look away.”

  • Nathan Englander

    Narrative 10

    As much as I worry now, I wish I knew to worry less then.

  • Lynn Freed

    Narrative 10

    All true laughter has tears behind it.

  • Allegra Goodman

    Narrative 10

    My grandmother warned—don’t force your muse.

  • Adam Haslett

    Narrative 10

    Art doesn’t conform to a capitalist’s ratio of productivity to time.

  • Sara Houghteling

    Narrative 10

    I wish I had thought to write down my father’s stories.

  • Vanessa Hua

    Narrative 10

    No one will care as much as you do.

  • R. O. Kwon

    Narrative 10

    I’m hellbent on avoiding unintentional repetitions.

  • Don Lee

    Narrative 10

    The Great Gatsby had an awful, detrimental effect on me.

  • Marie Myung-Ok Lee

    Narrative 10

    What’s the most useful criticism you’ve received? “Keep writing.”

  • Min Jin Lee

    Narrative 10

    I once heard in a sermon, “Choose the important over the urgent.”

  • Daniel Mason

    Narrative 10

    Obidicut, Hobbididence, Mahu, Modo, Smulkin, and Turlygod.

  • Ottessa Moshfegh

    Narrative 10

    Being creative is an act of love between you and the world.

  • Maud Newton

    Narrative 10

    I usually get my best writing done at night or at the close of day.

  • Peggy Orenstein

    Narrative 10

    I love talking to girls. That’s why I’ve written so much about them.

  • Susan Orlean

    Narrative 10

    I started reading it again before I had even finished it.

  • Julie Otsuka

    Narrative 10

    For lasting love, I’ve always relied on the friendship of women.

  • Ann Packer

    Narrative 10

    Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Note the comma in his name.

  • Paisley Rekdal

    Narrative 10

    2018 Utah Poet Laureate
    The story of racism does not simply happen to people of color.

  • Sarah Ruhl

    Narrative 10

    Who, after all, is fully recovered from life?

  • Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

    Narrative 10

    Every day is a writing day, or at least a potential writing day.

  • Will Schwalbe

    Narrative 10

    When you are around comedians, stop trying to be funny.

  • Dani Shapiro

    Narrative 10

    I know now not to measure my insides against others’ outsides.

  • Austin Smith

    Narrative 10

    I love Nedra in James Salter’s Light Years.

  • David L. Ulin

    Narrative 10

    Favorite character? What a question. It’s like choosing a favorite child.

  • Ocean Vuong

    Narrative 10

    2019 MacArthur Fellow
    2015 Narrative Prize Winner