How Critically Acclaimed Author Hilary Leichter Writes

Critically acclaimed author, Hilary Leichter, spoke to me about why she thinks of herself as a realist, how her life imitates art, finding a novel hidden in her closet, and her latest, TERRACE STORY. Hilary Leichter is an award-winning short story writer, and author of the novel Temporary, which was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NYPL Young Lions Fiction Prize, that was also longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice as well as a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, Elle, Vulture, and Publishers Weekly. Her latest novel, Terrace Story (Ecco; on sale: August 29, 2023), is described as “... an intimate exploration of time, a fable about love,[and] an epic daydream for a broken-hearted world.” Booklist said of the book, “Terrace Story is fun and profound, fickle and erudite. It is an irresistibly cool book.” Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust, said of the author, ”Hilary Leichter, [is] one of our most original novelists, [and] amazes us again with a beautifully unclassifiable novel. Step out onto the terrace, where space and time, cause and effect, and fiction and reality have been redefined and gorgeously subverted. Terrace Story isn’t a novel you merely read; it’s a book you inhabit.” Hilary teaches at Columbia University where she is the Undergraduate Creative Writing Adviser in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Conjunctions, and elsewhere. Her work in Harper’s Magazine won the 2021 National Magazine Award in Fiction. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Hilary Leichter and I discussed:   Why it never seems to get easier Sling-shotting from rejection to literary darling Why her first book was about a woman with many jobs set in the gig economy The writing habits she fears are unhealthy Revisiting The Poetics of Space The definition of “reverse research” And a lot more! Show Notes: hilaryleichter.com Terrace Story: A Novel By Hilary Leichter (Amazon)  Andrea Bartz Amazon Author Page How Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Hernan Diaz Writes: Redux Hilary Leichter on Instagram Hilary Leichter on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.