BEST AUTHOR BEST : MAGGIE SMITH

'' I'd thought of myself as a poet only for many years, and I've had to set that limiting belief aside - to write other kinds of books.''

Her newest, Dear Writer,'' offers 10 ingredients in the '' secret sauce '' of creativity.

.-  What books are on your night stand?

I know myself well enough to know a night stand wouldn't cut it, so I have a bedside bookshelf. Within arms reach are :

 '' Us Fools,'' by Nora Lange, '' When the Harvest Comes,'' by Denne Michele Norris; a galley of Kelly Sundberg's "The Answer Is in the Wound '' ; and Marie Howe's '' New and Selected Poems.''

.-  I have to ask : What's changed now that you are likely the most notable living Maggie Smith?

Nothing has changed - I'm still The Other One. I'll always be the Other One!  

.-  What's the last great book you read?

'' Modern Poetry,'' by Diane Seuss.

.-  What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?

I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed, but I'm aware of the gaps in my reading. I think there are many readers who have read John Steinbeck's '' Of Mice and Men '' than have read Clarice Lispector's '' The Stream of Life,''  which is one of my favorite books.

Are those people embarrassed not to have read Lispector? I doubt it, so I won't be embarrassed about not having read the Steinbeck yet.

.-  What's your favorite book no one else has heard of?

If a book is one of my favorites, then people have heard of it. I'm evangelical about the books I Love, so I'll text friends about them, post about them and recommend them in my Substack newsletter.

.-  What does '' Dear Writer '' provide that other guidebooks don't?

I have a whole bookshelf devoted to craft books, and what I love about each one is that I can sense the human being without it - their experience, voice and vision.

I structured '' Dear Writer '' around 10 essential elements of creativity, or what I see as the 10 ingredients in the secret sauce : attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection and hope.

The tools I share in each of these sections of the book are portable; readers carry them across genres or forms of art.

.-  '' Sometimes unlearning is as important as learning,'' you write. Give me an example from your own life and work.

I'd thought of myself as a poet only for many years, and I've had to set that limiting belief aside, to unlearn it, in order to write other kinds of books without feeling like an interloper in other genres.

The Publishing continues to Part [2]. The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.