Lydia Davis: belief

Transcript context

…Do you feel that meeting them or interviewing them gives you a better sense of how good a writer they can become? Or that’s worthless, and don’t get distracted; just look at the printed page? In my experience, I have not had to, or really wanted to, interview students in person before accepting them into a class. It’s been either that they were already signed up and enrolled, and I did what I could, or with some of the classes at the Writers Institute in SUNY Albany — those are for continuing education, general public, and graduate students — you’re handed a pile of samples, 30 samples, anonymous. I really think that’s the best way if you’re selecting students for a class. I always wanted to balance the genders. That was a bit of a game with me, to say, “This seems like a guy. This seems like a woman.” Nowadays, who cares? I thought it was good to have the balance, but I was often wrong, and that was fine too. How do you teach differently?…

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