A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out. Virginia Woolf
Fiction and poetry are my first loves, but the really beautiful lyrical essay can do so much that other forms cannot. Chris Abani
I was uncomfortable writing fiction. My love was the personal essay, rather than the novel. Alain de Botton
It takes me forever to actually finish something like a ten-page essay. But, when I do, I usually love what they are. It's a complicated relationship. Chris Abani
The most important thing when starting out with essay writing is to find a voice with which you're comfortable. You need to find a persona that is very much like you, but slightly caricatured. Anne Fadiman