We asked our authors from around the world to share their thoughts on why they write, why they read, and the books that have influenced them.
Here’s what they had to say.
Tell us why you read and share your favorite books! Join the discussion @HarperCollins on Twitter using #hc200.
© Allan Amato
I read to travel, and to learn. I read because every book is a world, and I can step into it when I open the book. I read because so many of the people I wish I could talk to are dead, some of them long dead: but when I read, they can tell me who they were and what they dreamed.
I write because I want to learn what I think about things, and I write fiction because I want to find out what happens next to the people in my head.
When I was young I read Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers and I learned that a nanny could also be a chthonic entity who danced, on her night off, with anthropomorphic personifications of the stars and constellations, and that if you told the tale well, this felt like truth. I suspect I’ve been trying for that level of assurance ever since.
