Beloved Bilinguals: Writers Working in their Second Language

Ha Jin has his characters speak in a slightly “off” English to remind us they are speaking Chinese. The author says, “I think in English, but I hear in Chinese.” Gary Shteyngart thought in Russian while composing his memoir Little Failure in English. As a child, his nicknames included Solnyshko (Little Sun), Soplyak (Snotty), and…

Mailbox Chronicles no. 2: Tales of the Trash (Peter Hessler for The New Yorker)

The writer Dan Chacon once said that when you’re writing (he meant really writing, not just thinking about it or imagining that you’re a famous writer), the whole world conspires with you. Images appear, snatches of overheard conversation find their way into your manuscript, metaphors jump out at you from every source. This week, The…