Master Lessons from Leading Writers gathers more than two decades of wisdom from twenty-nine accomplished authors. It offers previously unpublished interviews, along with freshly edited versions of ten interviews from Nancy Bunge's well-received previous collection, Finding the Words. The first section, Theory, incorporates interviews which document the golden age of writing programs in which authors with a strong sense of social and cultural responsibility taught as seriously as they wrote. These conversations delve into the writers' philosophies and teaching methods.
Lovely collection of succinct essays by major writers about their various philosophies of writing and teaching others how to write. Sample insight from Donald Hall: a poem is not a riddle to be solved but "like a work of sculpture that's perfectly made in the round."