The Reasons Why We Write

Often the best art emerges from situations of strife because art, in and of itself, is abouttrying to make sense of the hazy meanings surrounding events. Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates analyzes the reasons why we write while pulling examples from greats such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and James Joyce.

Oates’ most recent book is titled The Lost Landscape: A Writer’s Coming of Age.

Most people I think who write are involved in an attempt to solve a problem of what reall...