When asked your favorite writer do you name someone contemporary or classic? Does it depend who is asking the question? I'm not saying you would ever lie to impress anyone or anything like that. It's just maybe it's better to go with an author the person you are talking to is not a writer or a big reader, maybe. I think as writers this is a question we often get asked by both other writers and just other people in general. I know this has come up for me quite a few times. And I've learned from experience that no one really wants to hear a list of authors. I think people sort of mean favorite (as in one) when they ask this question. Also, what do you think a person's favorite author says about them? When a writer is asked this do you think it gives some sort of insight into what their work is like? What about a non-writer? what sort of things can we learn about people based off their favorite writer?
This gets asked a lot at library author visits and they always give multiple authors as their favorites (the check-out rates for those books go up too because the audience wants to read what the author is reading). Sometimes they are classics, sometimes the authors interpret the question as "which works inspire your writing style" or "which authors do you admire." I personally don't have a favorite author per se.... but I have favorite books and favorites "just for now." But If I'm asked this question (and i was during my interview for the first pub library i worked at), I always give the authors that inspired my writing/made me want to be a writer. They arent classics, and they arent really all that well known. but they mean something to me. Another author, I've only read 1 thing by her but it really resonated with me, especially why she writes. So even though she isn't my favorite author (I'll reserve that for after I've read more of her works), she is an inspiring author. I never really thought about this until fairly recently. When I joined a black writers group, they have a habit of shaming writers who don't write black characters and don't read black authors. For a long time, the authors I read were white authors..... because that's what was visible. those were the books and characters that were always there. you pull a book off the shelf, and they were white characters and white authors. it never occurred to me that this was happening... i just liked the book and like the premise, and liked the author. In the group, they were saying that i should have looked for them, that my parents should have exposed me to black literature, that i had an identity problem. I know I shouldn't... but now thats what i think about when i share my "favorite authors" to minorities if they will think I have an identity problem. (for the record, working in a library, I've seen the influx in minority authors and stories, so there is a lot more out there to read now than there was when I was a kid walking to the public library after school) I feel like once you know an authors inspiration, you know what elements to possibly expect in their own works. Non-writers just want to read what the author is reading. in that sense, authors are like influencers. there have been a couple of times authors i follow on facebook will mention a title and I'll want to go read it. I'd imagine other readers will do the same.
I usually ask, 'living, or all-time'? (For the record, James Lee Burke and Hemingway, both for their abilities as stylists.)
I don't have a favorite author. There are many writers whose books I automatically pick up if I see something they've written that I haven't read, but the name on the book isn't a guarantee that I'll read it. For example, some of Barbara Kingsolver's fiction is absolutely brilliant, but I've never managed to finish a book of her essays (and me a biologist). Same for Rumer Godden: she wrote books that I've read a dozen times each, while others I can't break through the first thirty pages. I loathe Hemingway, but read his work regularly because I always learn something about writing when I do. I don't think we can learn anything about a person based on their favorite writer(s). It's like asking, What can we learn about people based on their favorite horse? One can extrapolate and conjecture, of course. I like quarterhorses. Does that make me focussed, practical, and a bit aloof while someone who prefers Shetland ponies is stubborn, opinionated, and kinda mean? Based on the authors I mentioned above, one might conclude my writing/reading veers toward upmarket/literary, but what if I add Elizabeth Peters, Sue Grafton, Bill Watterson, and Dr. Seuss to the list? I've read every single thing those folks ever wrote.
This is interesting. In one of my MFA classes we had a long discussion one night about how we ween't supposed be so in awe of the old-white-man writer anymore. And how diversity in literature was presenting new voices and new writers, giving us more options and opportunities for picking new favorites. The conversation got a little heated when Balzac was brought into the mix. LOL. I recently told some one Orwell was my favorite. I love his work. And the question was asked to me by someone who's not a writer but knew I was. It just made sense as a quick answer because I'm pretty sure this person was not at all interested in what I'm reading. By the way, I'm now reading Orwell. But if I think with my favorite contemporary writers, there is a shift and there is more diversity among the authors I would choose. ZZ Packer and Ann Beattie have won me over in recent years. I also really like Alexander Chee and David Means. I guess I would have more to say about these authors in a discussion about why these authors are my favorites, including the one old white man in this bunch. He's great, though.
It's possible to add diversity to literature without demonizing or denigrating old-white-guy writers, but some folks need someone to hate the same way most people need someone to love. When I come across the hateful types, I stack Alice Walker, Sappho, and Marsha Mehran on top of Ernest Hemingway and Shakespeare and look for more congenial folks with whom to share my books. Life is too short to spend it tearing other writers apart because they're the wrong color, gender, or blood type.
I don't think anyone here is demonizing or denigrate old white man authors. That's not what I was trying to do at all. I just meant that as I became exposed to more diversity in what I read, it sort of has changed who I see or include as my favorites. This is not to take away from any writers. And Orwell will always be one of my favorites and one I return to. But I do think it's a good thing that I read and fall in love with stories from more places and different kinds of authors as well. I mean, I think for a lot of people there are changes in who their favorite author is as they read more. I think my favorite author(s) is always something likely to change as it has many times.
No, no. That was just me adding my thoughts to the conversation and not me making personal accusations anyone here needs to feel defensive about. Goodness.
It's an innocent enough conversation starter, but hoping for a singular answer sort of diminishes the meat of the discussion. I can't think of many popular writers that commonly cite a primary influence either. I would be tempted to answer that I don't like any of those pretentious word-workers, merely tolerating them for what they produce. It's also skipping dinner and drinks, which would be in the form of: "What are you reading right now?"
If someone answered with this, it would be pretty off putting to me. I hate it when writers call other writers pretentious. And the way you worded it here "tolerating them for what they produce" I'm not even sure what that means. I've never heard something so ridiculous as "tolerating" what one reads for pleasure.
I've started to widen out in my reading and enjoyed the work of other authors; however, Wilbur Smith will always feature among the top of my list of favourite authors.
Goodness, he has written a lot of books. His name is new to me, but I think my husband might enjoy some of these. A trip to the library is in order. Thanks, Rad.
Here is the link to his website: Wilbur Smith | International Bestselling Author (wilbursmithbooks.com)
He's South African, I believe. I read one of his and it was okay. Interesting stories but vanilla writing. Kind of like a John Grisham style in that regard.
