I love Chekhov. I could go on all day about him.

Reasons always came with a purpose, to give the appearance of a struggle between principle and desire. Principle had power only until you found what you had to have.

One of the last courses I taught was on the Russian short story, which I love.

Perhaps that is why the novel flourished in England. You had these communities that would stay put and people would see one another all the time and cause one another to change and have the opportunity to observe the changes over time.

You don't teach information in a writing workshop.

One of the things that draws writers to writing is that they can get things right that they got wrong in real life by writing about them.

There's a joy in writing short stories, a wonderful sense of reward when you pull certain things off.