Anne Tyler
From Anne Tyler's Q & A at the Man Booker site:
MBI: Some of your most well-known characters are male. Is it harder or easier to write from that perspective?--Marshal Zeringue
AT: Male characters are more of a challenge to me, because I think men generally are less willing to express their emotions. I'm conscious of a feeling of constraint when I'm looking at things through their eyes.
MBI: Many of your novels centre around family dynamics. What is it about amily life that make such rich matter for your writing?
AT: I like the fact that family members can't so easily walk away from each other when the going gets tough. They're forced to stay at close quarters and grate along together, and that provides wonderful material for novelists.
MBI: Today's writers are under increasing pressure to be online, with publishers encouraging writers to tweet, blog, and so on. What advice would you have for those writers who don't want to create this kind of very public profile?
AT: Well, of course I would say, "Don't do it," but that's because I can't imagine doing it myself. It feels like a physical impossibility.
MBI: Can you recommend any novelists (or poets) who you would like to see
finding a wider audience?
AT: I've been telling everyone to read...[read on]
