What if we reconsidered our assumptions about how fiction should be written? And can we then apply our discoveries to both what we read and how we read? This book explores these questions and encourages us into a more inclusive conversation about storytelling, featuring:Taymour Soomro on resisting rigid stories about who you areMadeleine Thien on how writing builds the room in which it can existAmitava Kumar on why authenticity isn't a licence we carry in our walletsTahmima Anam on giving herself permission to be funnyIngrid Rojas Contreras on the bodily challenge of writing about traumaZeyn Joukhadar on queering English and the power of refusing to translate ourselvesKiese Laymon on hearing that no one wants to read the story that you want to writeDeepa Anappara on writing even through conditions that impede the creation of art.Plus essays from Tiphanie Yanique, Xiaolu Guo, Jamil Jan Kochai, Vida Cruz-Borja, Femi Kayode, Nadifa Mohamed in conversation with Leila Aboulela, Myriam Gurba, Mohammed Hanif and Sharlene Teo.