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Recent episodes:
May. 16, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "People Who Live" by Erica Jong, and the literary and historical notes for Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

May. 15, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "Pity the Beautiful" by Dana Gioia, and the literary and historical notes for Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

May. 14, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "On Mondays" by Marilyn Donnelly, and the literary and historical notes for Monday, May 14, 2012.

May. 13, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "Wherever You Are" by Jeffrey Harrison, and the literary and historical notes for Sunday, May 13, 2012.

May. 12, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "A Romance for the Wild Turkey" by Paul Zimmer, and the literary and historical notes for Saturday, May 12, 2012.

May. 11, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "Rilke's Fear of Dogs" by Jeffrey Harrison, and the literary and historical notes for Friday, May 11, 2012.

May. 10, 2012: The Writer's Almanac
Poem: "Love in the Country" by William Stafford, and the literary and historical notes for Thursday, May 10, 2012.

“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”

—Joy Williams

“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.”

—Anne Tyler

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

—Stephen Greenblatt

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

—F. Scott Fitzgerald

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

—John Edgar Wideman

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

—Denise Levertov

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

—E.L. Doctorow

“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.”

—E.L. Doctorow

“Let's face it, writing is hell.”

—William Styron

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

—Thomas Mann

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

—Paul Rudnick

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

—Padget Powell

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

—Shelby Foote

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

—William Carlos Williams

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

—Iris Murdoch

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

—Pico Iyer

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

—Pico Iyer

“Writing is my dharma.”

—Raja Rao

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

—Anthony Powell

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

—Michael Cunningham
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