Borges on writing

In 1971 Borges was invited to talk about his writing to students enrolled in the graduate writing program at Columbia University. This book is based on tape-recorded transcripts of these informal discussions between Borges, translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni, Frank MacShane, head of the creative writing department at Columbia, and the students. The three seminars deal with prose, poetry, and translation. In each Borges, in discussing his methods, refers to specific examples in his writing -- the use of local color and irony in his prose, autobiographical details in his poetry, testing and experiment in translation. The result is a rare and fruitful glimpse at how today's supreme verbal craftsman solves the age-old problems of the writer. -- From publisher's description.