Writers

Five writing tips:

1. Better to read books prompting the thought ‘what makes them so good?’ rather than books that make you think ‘I can do better than this’.
2. Readers are artists, too, and the writer depends on a good reader completing the world the writer began. It is a more honourable thing to be a good reader than a bad writer.

Alison’s Top Five Tips:

1. Stay alert to the world. Carry a pen and notebook, and keep one by your bed. Develop the habit of looking and ‘gathering’.

Published in 20 languages, David Vann’s internationally-bestselling books have won 15 prizes, including best foreign novel in France and Spain, and appeared on 75 Best Books of the Year lists in a dozen countries. He has written for the Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, The Financial Times, Elle UK, Esquire UK, Esquire Russia, National Geographic Adventure, Writer’s Digest, McSweeney’s, and other magazines and newspapers. A former Guggenheim fellow, National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Wallace Stegner fellow, and John L’Heureux fellow, he is currently a Professor at the University of Warwick in England and is working on a translation of Beowulf.