In the first installment of our multimedia interview series, Olivia Laing uses screenshots to explain how the secretarial parts of writing can be both pleasurable and productive.

The author, scholar, and critic on her new book about personality testing, and the importance of holding women writers to high standards.

The poet on escaping the confines of academia, striving for imperfection, and moving back home.

The Pakistani-American author and activist on the burden of representation, the hunger for perfection, and the most important things about writing for kids.

The poet on perfectionism, surrendering control, and a poetry that reflects the practical realities of American life today.

The author on her new collection of short stories, finding joy in the writing process, dating creative people, and the role of nonliterary influences in her life.

The critically acclaimed poet on taking risks, accepting grace, and holding the world’s pain.

The writer on resistance history in French Occitanie, dropping out to drop in, and cultivating spiritual presence as an artist.

The poet on his debut album—a tribute to and collaboration with his late wife, by The Interplanetary Acoustic Team—and the role of music in literary practice.

The writer on contemporary political fiction, his favorite court decision, and why he values ethics over empathy.

The poet discusses the spark of life in a poem and the intersection of the imaginative and the political.