Phillip Lopate Speaks About First Person Writing

Anyone who has laughed out loud while reading Against Joie de Vivre by Phillip Lopate would have enjoyed his talk on Feb. 27 at the AWP Conference in Seattle. He credited Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground as an important early influence. He says of his writing, “I was not a great thinker but I enjoy contrarianism and have the desire to do some mischief in writing.”Check out his personal essays. They are some of the funniest and most insightful around.