The Writer's Almanac Bookshelf

Welcome to The Writer's Almanac Bookshelf, where you'll find highlighted interviews of poets heard on the show.

Featured Interview

Faith Shearin

Faith Shearin’s first collection, The Owl Question (2004), won the May Swenson Award, and her second book, The Empty House (2008), helped earn her a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has appeared regularly in Ploughshares, Poetry East, and North American Review, and in several anthologies, including Sweeping Beauty: Contemporary Women Poets Do Housework and The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poets. Her most recent collection, Moving the Piano (2011), was written in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which is part of the Outer Banks barrier islands, where Shearin spent her childhood. She recently took the time to tell us a bit about herself and her writing process.

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Maggie Anderson & David Hassler

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Welcome to The Writer's Almanac Bookshelf, where you'll find highlighted interviews of poets heard on the show.

Featured Interview

Faith Shearin

Read the interview →

Previous Interviews

“Writers end up writing stories--or rather, stories' shadows--and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough”

“I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.”

“Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig”

“All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.”

“Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.”

“In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.”

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

“Let's face it, writing is hell.”

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

“Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.”

“Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.”

“Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.”

“I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.”

“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.”

“The less conscious one is of being 'a writer,' the better the writing.”

“Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.”

“Writing is my dharma.”

“Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.”

“I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.”

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The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Welcome to The Writer's Almanac Bookshelf, where you'll find highlighted interviews of poets heard on the show.

Featured Interview

Faith Shearin

Read the interview →

Previous Interviews

“Writers end up writing stories--or rather, stories' shadows--and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough”

“I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.”

“Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig”

“All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.”

“Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.”

“In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.”

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

“Let's face it, writing is hell.”

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

“Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.”

“Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.”

“Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.”

“I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.”

“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.”

“The less conscious one is of being 'a writer,' the better the writing.”

“Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.”

“Writing is my dharma.”

“Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.”

“I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.”

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Support American Public Media

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