Interviews | September 01, 1984

Excerpt:

When I read professionally I’m guided first of all by my own ideas and taste, then by my sense of the magazine’s image of itself, who our readers are, what they expect and should be reading, what of the world we can bring them, and finally by the subliminal associations that make reading so unpredictable.  I look for voice, language, characters, story and thought in that order, the order in which a writer usually shows what he’s about.  When the signs are clear, which is not to say simple, I begin to think I may have found a story.

If you are a student, faculty member, or staff member at an institution whose library subscribes to Project Muse, you can read this piece and the full archives of the Missouri Review for free. Check this list to see if your library is a Project Muse subscriber.

SEE THE ISSUE

SUGGESTED CONTENT