Literary Hub » Mary Karr

The Annotated Nightstand: What Mosab Abu Toha Is Reading Now, and Next

The Annotated Nightstand: What Mosab Abu Toha Is Reading Now, and Next

Featuring Naomi Shihab Nye, Faraj Bayrakdar, Mahmoud Darwish, and Others

By Diana Arterian | October 16, 2024

What the Science of Memory Can (and Can’t) Reveal about Truth in Memoir

What the Science of Memory Can (and Can’t) Reveal about Truth in Memoir

Debra Nystrom on the Power of Personal Story Alongside Objective Study

By Debra Nystrom | October 9, 2024

The Hard Art of Seeing Your Own Writing Through Rose-Colored Glasses

The Hard Art of Seeing Your Own Writing Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Mira Ptacin on Transforming One’s Inner Critic

By Mira Ptacin | July 22, 2024

Poets Jennifer Michael Hecht and Matthew Zapruder on Wonder, the Secular Sacred, and the Surprising Power of “Once Upon a Time”

Poets Jennifer Michael Hecht and Matthew Zapruder on Wonder, the Secular Sacred, and the Surprising Power of “Once Upon a Time”

A Conversation on Wonder, the Secular Sacred, Stories, and the Surprising Power of "Once Upon a Time"

By Matthew Zapruder | April 5, 2023

Mary Karr on Navigating Memory While Writing Memoir

Mary Karr on Navigating Memory While Writing Memoir

“A single image can split open the hard seed of the past.”

By Mary Karr | October 21, 2022

The Last Essay I Need to Write about David Foster Wallace

The Last Essay I Need to Write about David Foster Wallace

Mary K. Holland on Closing the “Open Question” of Wallace’s Misogyny

By Mary K. Holland | November 29, 2021

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

A PBS episode about Flannery O’Connor will feature interviews with Hilton Als and Mary Karr.

By Walker Caplan | February 23, 2021

The Fraught Task of Describing Life with David Foster Wallace

By Zan Romanoff | February 10, 2020

My Life as Poet Laureate (of a Law Firm)

By Elizabeth Bales Frank | July 23, 2019

Mary Karr Thought Her Whiting Award Call Was a Prank and Hung Up

Mary Karr Thought Her Whiting Award Call Was a Prank and Hung Up

On the Life-Changing Award She Won 30 Years Ago

By Mary Karr | May 3, 2019

The Coming-of-Age Memoirs That Helped Me Write About My Life

The Coming-of-Age Memoirs That Helped Me Write About My Life

Christine S. O'Brien on Six Stories of Resilient Children

By Christine S. O'Brien | December 7, 2018

Terrance Hayes on Shakespeare, Ol' Dirty Bastard and What Makes a Good MFA

Terrance Hayes on Shakespeare, Ol' Dirty Bastard and What Makes a Good MFA

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin in Talks to Jeffrey J. Williams">The Author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin in Talks to Jeffrey J. Williams

By Jeffrey J. Williams | May 9, 2018

Great Advice From 25 Writing Manuals by Famous Authors

Great Advice From 25 Writing Manuals by Famous Authors

Q: What’s the key to suspense? A: I’ll tell you later.

By Emily Temple | January 22, 2018

The Classes 25 Famous Writers Teach

The Classes 25 Famous Writers Teach

They're Not Always What You'd Expect

By Emily Temple | September 12, 2017

100 Books Across America: Fiction and Nonfiction for Every State in the Union

100 Books Across America: Fiction and Nonfiction for Every State in the Union

A Reading List for Your Last-Second Literary Road Trip

By Emily Temple | August 23, 2017

Mary Karr: Stop Asking Me About David Foster Wallace, Thanks

Mary Karr: Stop Asking Me About David Foster Wallace, Thanks

"As though my contribution to literature is that I fucked him a couple times in the early nineties."

By Emily Temple | January 18, 2017

Page 1 of 2