Male staff members at the Grand waded through the myths that surrounded her, enjoying the feeling of being stuck.

The writer and editor speaks about beastliness in fiction, founding a literary journal, and avoiding the lure of “faux-weirdness” in his work.

The writer and photographer on their first book collaboration, the connection between Hollywood blockbusters and climate change, and how “shared terror” can make us feel less alone.

The literary agent on gatekeeping, the truth behind big advances, and why Amazon neglects the “humanity to good books.”

The Bangladeshi-British writer on news versus novels, swapping rural poverty for Wall Street, and “the power of story on the human mind.”

The publisher of Graywolf on the pleasure of finding books others have overlooked.

The vice president and editorial director of Grove Atlantic on the art of literary editing, why publishers shouldn’t turn their backs on risk-taking writing, and how the first novel she ever bought went on to transform her career.

The National Book Award finalist on what makes a great sentence and channeling Roberto Bolaño.

The debut novelist on the Great Migration and nation-building, conflations of race and class, and her “belief in belief."

The American writer discusses turning his back on showy prose, being labelled an “erotic” author, and “the importance of being somebody.”