BEST AUTHOR BEST : PATRICIA LOCKWOOD

'' I cherish those problem books from the '70s and '80s, where it's like you've got scoliosis - or you're psychic and have purple eyes and it's too much responsibility.''

Her new novel is '' Will There Ever Be Another You.''

.-  What books are on your night stand?

Jami Attenberg's '' The Amnesiac,'' John Darniell's '' This Year,'' Mattia Filice's '' Driver,'' the collected poems and prose of Elizabeth Bishop [ as well as the biography by Thomas Travisano ], Wallace Stevens's Library of America collection.

.-  How do you organize your books?

My books are organized according to a principle known as Rat Pile. Towering, precarious,  overbalanced stacks, because I need these! I'm working on these!

In a classic Rat Pile all the books want to be touching each other simultaneously, sometimes for reasons : that will not become clear until later.

.-  Who is your favorite fictional villain?

I love a Mrs. Danvers. Anyone who can stare evilly from the wainscoting or behind the breakfast tray with murky motives.

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

Roger Shattuck's '' The Forbidden Experiment,'' about the wild boy of Aveyron.

[ Improbably it gave me the structure for a poem I was writing called '' Party in the USA.'' ] Also, Leslie Marmon Silko's '' Ceremony.''

.-  Have you ever read '' Anna Karenina '' while tripping on mushrooms, as the narrator does in your book?

Oh yes. I mean, it was a period when I was microdosing minuscule amounts, Dollhouse cups of this tea. Everyone who reads '' Anna Karenina '' is on mushrooms, a bit.

The windowpanes we look through in this novel are so absolutely warm and clear, the scenes are so spotlit, the perceptive hairs so raised, the colors and music so seeable and hearable - not exaggerated but more themselves.

The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.