‘Ron Rash’s new short story collection, Nothing Gold Can Stay, is this Appalachian author’s best book since his 2008 Serena. If Serena becomes famous as the basis for a coming Jennifer Lawrence–Bradley Cooper movie, never forget that it began as a fierce, breathtaking book, one of the greatest American novels in recent memory.’

A rave review in the New York Times of Ron Rash’s new collection, Nothing Gold Can Stay.

Ask a writing teacher: how do you start the first draft of a novel?

Why does Charlotte Lucas marry the odious Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice? The New Yorker has an interesting take on this question.