'I never write to disappear or escape'

 

“I never write to disappear and escape. Thetruth is exactly the opposite. Most people strike me as escaping anddisappearing in one way or another - into their jobs, their daily routines,their delusions about themselves and others.” – Steven Millhauser

 

Bornin New York City on Aug. 3, 1943 Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize for hisnovel Martin Dressler.  And while he has had several successfulnovels, he has earned even more accolades for his collections of short stories.  One of his best-known short stories isEisenheim the Illusionist, made intothe critically acclaimed film TheIllusionist.   And his 2012 collection We Others won The Story Prize, honoringthe best book of short fiction from the previous year.   

                          
A resident of Saratoga Springs, NY he taught writing at Skidmore College until retiringin 2017.  But he has maintained his shortstory writing, his most recentcollection being 2023’s Disruptions. Millhauser has a writing routine that he’s followed for decades. 

 

“Whena story or part of a story comes to me, I turn it over in my mind a long timebefore starting to write.  I might makenotes or take long drives or who knows what?  By the time I give myself permission to write,I know certain things, though not everything.  I know where the story is headed, and I knowcertain crucial points along the way.”

 

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