I am a big fan of beautifully written words. It is not just a good story, good stories are important and necessary for good fiction. But there is something else about the richly written phrase. Carolyn Weber is one of the masters of this craft.
James Matichuk has a review of Word for Readers and Writer: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues by Larry Woiwode that evokes the kind of love I have for Weber’s writing. Looks like a book worth picking up.
When I picked up Word for Readers and Writers: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues I had no idea who Larry Woiwode was. I had read his bio and knew he was an award winning novelist (William Faulkner Foundation Award, John DosPassos Prize, plus a finalist for the National Book Award and Book Critics Circle Award), recipient of the Medal of Merit from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota since 1995. But I had not read any of his works, much less heard of them until I picked up this book.
I loved the beauty of Woiwode’s prose and am sure that this will not be the last of his books I read(unfortunately my local library only has a couple of his other books). These essays are compiled from previous publications in various journals and publications. They showcase Woidwode’s grasp of English literature and a lifetime of working with words. Some of these essays reflect on Woidwode’s own literary endeavors (there are a couple interviews of him in the collection). Other essays probe the writing of others. Still others are more reflective about the nature of writing and craft. My favorite of these essays (A Fifty-Year Walk with Right Words or A Writer’s Feel of Internal Bleeding, A to Z) are personally revealing.
continue reading the rest of the review at James Matichuk’s blog