Illuminating Fiction

Contents

Contents xi Introduction 1 Foreword to Early Draft from The Known World, by Edward P. Jones 2 Stamford A Short Story by Edward P. Jones 9 Edward P. Jones Imagined Worlds 20 Julia Glass A Palette of Words 31 Arthur Golden A Sense of Urgency 46 Jill McCorkle Every Town Has Its Stories 57 Matthew Sharpe Novels as Omnivores 67 Mary Yukari Waters What I Will Follow 79 Ron Carlson Inventory of Ron Carlson 92 Amy Bloom Characters That Won’t Go Away 100 Lise Haines Blindfolds, Hypnotism, and Chairs 109 Paul Lisicky Looking for Surprise 120 Lan Samantha Chang Memories That Reach Back into Consciousness 130 Steve Almond Revealing Your Characters 140 Joan Leegant The Life Around Them: Animating the Inanimate 151 Kathleen Spivack Pulling Yourself In 160 Chris Abani Coming to Elvis 171 Elizabeth Searle Mistress of Ceremonies 180 Margot Livesey A Little in Common 192 Fred Leebron Growing the Story 201 Yiyun Li Tell, Don’t Show ...