"Writing is not about self-expression; it is about putting words on paper."

-- Gordon Lish

Gordon Lish is a renowned American author, editor, and teacher of creative writing.  He was the fiction editor of Esquire for most of the 1970s, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf for nearly twenty years, and editor of The Quarterly from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.  He taught at Columbia and Yale, and also taught private courses.  His books include Dear Mr. Capote, Peru, What I Know So Far, Mourner at the Door, Zimzum, and others.

INTRODUCTION

In the autumn of 1990, I attended a series of Gordon's private masters' classes in New York City.  Initially I took no notes, but after the first few weeks I realized that what I was learning was of such value to me as a writer, I should make a record of it that I could refer to again in the future.  In the spring of 1991, I fashioned the notes into a more comprehensible and useful document.  With the exception of minor cosmetic changes, that document is published here now on this website.