Personal matters. Introducing myself ; Being taken for granite ; Indian uncles ; My libraries ; My island ; On the frontier --
Readings. All happy families ; Things not actually present : on The book of fantasy and J.L. Borges ; Reading young, reading old : Mark Twain's diaries of Adam and Eve ; Thinking about Cordwainer Smith ; Stress-rhythm in poetry and prose ; Rhythmic pattern in The lord of the rings ; The wilderness within : The sleeping beauty and "the poacher" ; Off the page : loud cows : a talk and a poem about reading aloud --
Discussions and opinions. Fact and/or/plus fiction ; Award and gender ; On genetic determinism ; About feet ; Dogs, cars, and dancers : thoughts about beauty ; Collectors, rhymesters, and drummers ; Telling is listening ; The operating instructions ; "A war without end" --
On writing. A matter of trust ; The writer and the character ; Unquestioned assumptions ; Prides : an essay on writing workshops ; The question I get asked most often ; Old body not writing ; The writer on, and at, her work.