Essayist and Yale professor Anne Fadiman spoke about her latest book, “Frog and Other Essays,” in an interview published by the Harvard Gazette on Apr. 2. Fadiman addressed topics ranging from her family’s literary influence to her thoughts on artificial intelligence’s impact on education.
Fadiman’s new collection explores a variety of subjects, including a dead pet frog, obsolete technology, and historical periodicals. She said these seemingly minor topics can hold greater meaning during difficult times. “We need beauty, wit, and attention to small things even more when we have to face large, painful things,” Fadiman said.
Reflecting on her time at Harvard in the early 1970s, Fadiman credited mentors at Harvard Magazine for shaping her approach to writing. She described working closely with editor John Bethell as formative: “John’s teaching made me a better writer on the sentence level. That’s something most young journalists never get from their editors.” Her career began with reportorial nonfiction before she discovered essays while recovering from a health issue.
Fadiman explained that essays allow personal experience to frame broader topics: “I often start an essay in a place as small as possible and then let it open up.” She hopes readers will see that “large things can come from small things” and not dismiss their own lives as trivial.
On teaching writing at Yale for over two decades, Fadiman advised aspiring writers to focus each piece around one central idea and recommended reading E.B. White’s works for improvement: “Simply by osmosis, the beauty and clarity of White’s sentence structure would penetrate your brain.” Regarding artificial intelligence in education, she expressed concern about its effect on creativity and ethics but noted she has not yet encountered AI-generated work among her students.
The interview is part of an ongoing series highlighting the personal perspectives of Harvard experts.
