Driven to Write 45 Writers on the Motives and Mysteries of their Craft

Editors’ Introduction

Ellen Pinsky and Michael Slevin

Chapter 1: Models and Mentors

Stephen Greenblatt

Robert Pinsky

Jane Leavy

Joseph Leo Koerner

Josh Ritter

Nicole Sealey

Patricia Churchland

Grant Shreve

Beverly J. Stoute

Natasha Trethewey

Julius W. Hobson, Jr.

Orlando Patterson

Chapter 2: Urges and Traumas

Louis Menand

Louise Glück

Nazila Fathi

Peg Boyers

Sigrid Nunez

Marilyn Martin

Jean McGarry

Nancy J. Chodorow

Thomas Ogden

Forrest Hamer

Carl Phillips

Warren Poland

Joshua Prager

Philip Schultz

Michael Slevin

Rita Dove

Chapter 3: Evidence and Experiences

Ellen Pinsky

Adam Phillips

Rowan Ricardo Phillips

Rachel Dillon

Anne Adelman

Ha Jin

Kerry Malawista

Judy L. Kantrowitz

David Litt

Bill Griffith

Peter Slevin

Robert Jay Lifton

Robert Boyers

Lloyd Schwartz

Peggy Tighe

Harold Varmus

Biography

Ellen Pinsky is the author of Mortal Gifts (2017), described by one reviewer as “[a] book to be read alongside Freud’s Papers on Technique.” Her writing about psychoanalysis and her clinical work have been enriched by years of experience as a middle school English teacher.

Michael Slevin draws from his experience as a psychoanalyst and journalist to find fresh perspectives on psychoanalytic ideas. He recently co-edited The Trauma of Racism: Lessons from the Therapeutic Encounter (2023), which was heralded as a “humanistic approach to the problem of racial oppression”.

'Writers write, yes, but why turns out to be one of the best questions anyone could ask. Is it because we master our deepest losses this way, or because we would otherwise be selling aluminum-siding? And is it a source of joy or of dread, and does it come with such ease or such difficulty that we live for our next page or fear it will kill us? As for most of the writers here writing seems to be a process of felicitous discovery, it is perhaps no surprise that this compendium as a whole, too, crackles with the freshness of truths just-now-popping-to-mind. I was astonished by the beauty, candor, and insight of these pieces, every one of which finally helps articulate the ineffable. Marvelous!'

Gish Jen, author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon

 

'In Driven, Ellen Pinsky and Michael Slevin have gathered a scribe’s tribe—scholars, poets, novelists, songwriters—as diverse in their motives as in their modes of making. To read these essays is to sit around a fire while the wise ones wax. Part observation, part ode, eclectic and electric, this collection is a must have for writers and readers alike.'

John Murillo, author of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry 

 

'A remarkable volume featuring more than 40 writers reflecting on what drives them to write. Personal, poignant, sad, humorous—each testimonial is unique; taken together, they show that writing emanates from deep within a writer’s soul. The first collection to explore so intimately the allure of writing, Driven to Write is a literary treasure for writers, and for anyone who reads their works.'

 Lissa Muscatine, Politics and Prose Bookstore

 

'A fascinating look at the urges and desires of the writing artist, from Louise Glück’s belief in a voice more immutable than speech to Carl Phillips’ discovery that ‘the poem tends to know what we don’t yet know,’ from Adam Phillips’ writing as dreaming to Ha Jin’s writing as faith. As Jane Leavy’s father once told her, ‘Writers write.’ But why? For those of us who ask that question, this book offers so much to learn from and think about.'

Elisa Gabbert, author of Any Person Is the Only Self

 

“What drives you to write?” I love the simplicity and directness of the question, the complexity and variety of the responses. A single question bringing out a wide range of experiences that can and somehow must be expressed through words on a page. Writing is doing, an action. These personal essays, from an impressive gathering of ‘doers’, offer fascinating insights into the impulse behind it.'

Jeffrey Brown, PBS News Hour