Sarah Lawrence College Craft Talk with Joan Silber—Generosity in Fiction

What do we mean if we say an author isn’t generous enough to the characters? What form would generosity take? Do we just mean free of cruelty and condescension, or can it be a literary value in itself? Joan Silber discuss work by Chekhov, Toibin, Adichie, Edward P. Jones, and others.

Joan Silber is the author seven books of fiction, most recently Fools, long-listed for The National Book Award and finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize, and Pushcart Prize collections. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.