The Writing Life

Writing love stories: André Aciman on Room on the Sea

The Writing Life

Show Notes

In this episode of The Writing Life, bestselling author André Aciman shares the intricacies of writing romance, from the magic of first meetings to the nuances of portraying older characters falling in love.

André is the New York Times bestselling author of Call Me By Your Name, Find Me, The Gentleman From Peru, Out of Egypt, Eight White Knights, False Papers, Alibis, Harvard Square, Enigma Variations, and the essay collection Homo Irrealis. He’s the editor of the Proust Project and teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

He joins NCW’s Steph McKenna from his home in Manhattan to talk about his latest novella Room on the Sea, a tender love story set in the sweltering heat of New York City. Together, they discuss his writing routines, the process of writing for an audio-first format, and his approach to dialogue, narration, and the art of leaving things between the lines.

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