Zadie Smith on the Failure of the Craft Talk

"That Crafty Feeling," a lecture Zadie Smith gave to Columbia's writing program back in 2008 and that was published in Believer Magazine, is a craft talk that is surprisingly anti-craft, yet full of helpful tips and cutting prose.

Smith's meditation on craft talks is wonderfully self-aware and her advice will leave you with plenty to chew on.

"Reading about craft is like listening to yourself breathe. Writing about craft prompts a self–consciousness so acute one forgets how to exhale altogether. It’s clear to me that James, or any good academic or critic, will be able to tell you far more about craft than I can, and do so with more clarity, more utility, not to mention a lot less anxiety. The question how does fiction work? is an answerable one. The question how do you write fiction? isn’t really, not without becoming a little fraudulent in the answering of it."

 

A Statement of Our Values

The Attic Institute of Arts and Letters opposes the legitimation of bigotry, hate, and misinformation in today's cultural and political environment. As a studio for writers, we do not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind. We condemn all acts of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia. We embrace and celebrate our shared pursuit of literature and language as essential to crossing the boundaries of difference. To that end, we seek to maintain a creative environment in which every employee, faculty member, and student feels safe, respected, and comfortable. We accept the workshop as a place to question ourselves and to empathize with diverse identities. We understand that to know the world is to write a better world. Therefore, we reaffirm our commitment to literary pursuits and shared understanding by affirming social justice, diversity, and open inquiry.