Biblio File, Interviews

Ask the Author: Mark Strand

Mark Strand Photo

When and where do you like to read?

I read when I am waiting in airports or doctors' offices, sometimes on the plane or on the train, but most often when I am seated in a comfortable chair late in the afternoon or early in the evening.

What were your favorite books as a child?

I didn't read as a child, my mother read poems to me.  When I began reading I was a teenager and I read Hemingway, Faulkner, Dos Passos, and others.  I also read poetry.

What books had the greatest impact on you?

The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens.  Moby Dick.  Great Expectations.

Would you like to name a few writers out there you think deserve greater readership?

"Edwin Muir. Javier Marias. James Merrill. Tommaso Landolfi. Jonathan Coe. Deborah Eisenberg.

What was the last book you recommended?

Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marias.

What do you plan to read next?

Hester Among the Ruins by Binnie Kirshenbaum and Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Gluck.