Alice’s Recommended Writing Books
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published
Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees, an editor’s advice to writers
James Scott Bell, Revision & Self-Editing
Janet Burroway, Writing Fiction. In my opinion, the best fiction-writing book we have on the market
Cassill and Bausch, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 6th edition (2000). Learn how to write short stories by reading from the best
Natalie Goldberg. Writing Down the Bones
Peter Elbow, Writing With Power and Writing Without Teachers
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide To Igniting the Writer Within
Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola, Tell It Slant: Writing and Sharing Creative Nonfiction
Brian Kitely, The 3 am Epiphany: Uncommon Writing Exercises That Transform Your Fiction
Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz, Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction. This the wonderful book which inspired a new direction I’m going to take with my thesis!
Recommended Writing Magazines
The Writer Gives tips, how-tos, market information for writers at all levels and all genres
Poets and Writers Magazine for literary writers that includes complete grant, contest residency, retreat and conference information
My Favorite Books
Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler (fiction)
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (fiction)
The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka (fiction)
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant (fiction)
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (fiction)
A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest Gaines (fiction)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon (fiction)
Beloved, Toni Morrison (fiction)
Isaac’s Storm, Erik Larson (creative nonfiction)
The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger (creative nonfiction)
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston (fiction)
Dracula, Bram Stoker (fiction)
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (fiction)
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert (fiction)
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (memoir)
The Liar’s Club, Mary Karr (memoir)
Life of Pi, Yann Martel (fiction)
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson (memoir)
My Favorite Poetry Books
All poems by Yosef Komunyakaa , especially “Facing It”
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, “The Bitter River”
The Late Wife, Claudia Emerson (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry)
Vice, Ai
The Black Unicorn, Audre Lorde
My Favorite Movies
High Noon (1952)
All About Eve (1950)
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
Vertigo (1958)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Aliens (1986)
Forrest Gump (1994)
American Beauty (1999)
Sideways (2004)
Shrek 2 (2004)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Terminator 2 (1991)
Predator (1987)
Munich (2005)
WALL*E (2008)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
True Grit (2010)
