Literary Portraits

From The New Yorker’s archive: stories about the artists behind our favorite novels. View in browser | Update your preferences Literary Portraits In 1996, Alec Wilkinson published a profile of Elmore Leonard, the author of “Get Shorty” and “Out of Sight,” among numerous other novels. For years, Leonard employed a researcher to gain an insider’s perspective on the habits and tactics of the jailbirds, bail bondsmen, thieves, and other colorful characters that he brought to the page. Leonard wrote his novels carefully, feeling his way through the plot. Sometimes he got stuck. At one point, while researching his book “Cuba Libre,” he grew frustrated. “The dialogue is different,” he said. “I can’t swing with it yet, and I don’t know what obscenities they used.” Wilkinson skillfully traces Leonard’s process as the novelist constructs the narratives that engage and thrill us. This week, we’re bringing you a selection of compelling literary portraits. In “After Empire,” Ruth Franklin writes about the masterly artistry of the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. In “Bonhomie for a Southern Belletrist,” the novelist Richard Ford visits with Eudora Welty in her home town of Jackson, Mississippi, as she receives the French Legion of Honor. In “Man of Gamaliya,” Milton Viorst recounts the Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s battle against encroaching religious extremism in Egypt. In “Reading Japan,” David Remnick explores the intricate—and profoundly personal—work of the Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe. Finally, in “A Society of One,” Claudia Roth Pierpont examines the life of Zora Neale Hurston, a leader of the Harlem Renaissance who expertly transformed folk culture into art. Each of these pieces reveals something elusive about the lives of the artists behind our favorite novels. We hope that you’ll enjoy diving into this collection over the holiday weekend. — Erin Overbey, archive editor From The New Yorker’s Archive Life and Letters Elmore’s Legs How does Elmore Leonard get true grit? By Alec Wilkinson | September 30, 1996 Books After Empire Chinua Achebe and the great African novel. By Ruth Franklin | May 26, 2008 The Talk of the Town Bonhomie for a Southern Belletrist Why the French love Eudora Welty. By Richard Ford | February 19, 1996 A Reporter at Large Man of Gamaliya Naguib Mahfouz’s quintessential Egypt. By Milton Viorst | July 2, 1990 States of Mind Reading Japan Kenzaburo Oe is the last of Japan’s politically engaged postwar writers—but the reasons for his surprise Nobel-ceremony announcement are personal. By David Remnick | February 6, 1995 A Critic at Large A Society of One Zora Neale Hurston, American contrarian. By Claudia Roth Pierpont | February 17, 1997 Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Books & Fiction Newsletter Book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature, twice a week. This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.