Gems from Amy Hempel

powells:

On inspiration:

“In part, writing for me is a call-and-response proposition. I often read something and then write as a kind of response…By response I don’t mean point-for-point, but those stories called up something in me, and perhaps my story wouldn’t have come into being if I hadn’t read the others first.”

“I like the aftermath of the big event more than I like to portray the event itself.”

On her style:

“I’m just not wordy. I am in life, but I’m not on the page. The kind of revi...