My path to fiction writing was an unusual one. I began as a student of philosophy, hoping to discover Big Truths that might help me know how to live. Instead, philosophy led me to the conclusion—via the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (a hero of mine)—that all of the most important things in life couldn’t be spoken about or expressed at all. “Where we cannot speak,” Wittgenstein famously said, “we must remain silent.”

Unable to remain silent, I turned instead to fiction writing, where I found that experimentation with language and structure could expand the borders of what we could say... and whisper into that Wittgensteinian silence. This craft talk will be an exploration of both why I needed fiction to perform this function, and how certain writers have—through unexpected or alternative forms of fiction-writing—managed to succeed at it. Pets are welcome and dinner will be served. 

REGISTER HERE. (Free for Paragraph Members, RSVP)

David Hollander is the author of the novel L.I.E. (Random House), a Young Lions Fiction Award nominee, and of the forthcoming Anthropica (Animal Riot Press, September 1, 2020). His work has appeared in McSweeney’s, Conjunctions, Fence, Agni, Unsaid, The New York Times Magazine, and Best American Fantasy, among other reputable and disreputable publications. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and two children and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College. www.longlivetheauthor.com