Young Writers Share Their Inspirational Books

CULTURED magazine's inaugural Young Writers list features eight emerging authors who reveal the books that inspire them. Emeline Atwood cites Elizabeth Bishop's "Geography III" and James Wright's collections, as well as Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son." Lydia Mathis finds inspiration in José Saramago's "Blindness," Anne Carson's "Nox," and Ottessa Moshfegh's "Homesick for Another World." Malavika Kannan names Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," Jade Sharma's "Problems," and Amia Srinivasan's "The Right to Sex." K-Ming Chang returns to Marilyn Chin's "Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen," discovered as a teenager. Sotce is currently reading Han Kang's "The Vegetarian," Lena Dunham's "Famesick," and "Ulysses." Cay Kim admires Marguerite Duras's "The Lover," Clarice Lispector's "The Passion According to G.H.," and Marilynne Robinson's "Housekeeping." Harold Rogers read Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" during a blizzard in NYC. Leah Abrams cites Philip Roth's "The Conversion of the Jews." The list was unveiled in the magazine's summer Indulgence issue.