On Teaching and Writing Fiction - by Wallace Stegner (Paperback)

About the Book

Stegner brings together eight previously uncollected essays--including four never-before-published pieces--on writing fiction and teaching creative writing. In this unique collection he addresses every aspect of fiction writing from the writer's vision to his or her audience to the recognizable truth it seeks finally to reveal.

Book Synopsis

Wallace Stegner founded the acclaimed Stanford Writing Program-a program whose alumni include such literary luminaries as Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, and Raymond Carver. Here Lynn Stegner brings together eight of Stegner's previously uncollected essays-including four never-before-published pieces -on writing fiction and teaching creative writing. In this unique collection he addresses every aspect of fiction writing-from the writer's vision to his or her audience, from the use of symbolism to swear words, from the mystery of the creative process to the recognizable truth it seeks finally to reveal. His insights will benefit anyone interested in writing fiction or exploring ideas about fiction's role in the broader culture.

About the Author

Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) was the author of, among other novels, All the Little Live Things (winner of a Commonwealth Club Gold Medal), Angle of Repose (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), and The Spectator Bird (winner of the National Book Award). His nonfiction includes The Sound of Mountain Water, The Uneasy Chair: A Biography of Bernard DeVoto, and Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs: Living and Writing in the West. Three of his short stories won O. Henry Prizes, and in 1980 he received the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times for his lifetime literary achievements.

Lynn Stegner is the author of the novels Undertow, Fata Morgana, and Pipers at the Gates of Dawn.