Literary Washington

Washington DC is not known for its literary scene. Would-be writers flock to New York City. Would-be politicians, policy wonks, and non-profit do-gooders flock to Washington. But the city does have a thriving arts scene, a component of which are serious writers of literature.

Washington is the home of political thrillers, spy novels, historical novels, and mysteries, but one doesn’t associate literary fiction with Washington. George Pelecanos lives here, and Tom Clancy lives nearby. So many of these types of books (and movies) are set here that it is hard to see beyond the genres.

There are a few books I would consider “literary” that are set in Washington, including Mark Twain's The Gilded Age, part of John Dos Passos’s USA Trilogy, and Edward P. Jones’s Lost in the City. But few other books of literary fiction has ever been based here, although many writers of literary fiction call the capital home.

Probably the two biggest names are Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Edward P. Jones and Frederick Reuss.

Edward P. Jones (Lost in the City, The Known World, and most recently All Aunt Hagar’s Children) grew up in DC and still lives here. Lost in the City, a collection of short stories that document the lives of DC’s working class, is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Everyone who lives in DC and loves literature should read it. Frederick Reuss, author of Horace Afoot, Henry of Atlantic City, The Wasties, and last year’s Mohr: A Novel, lives on Capitol Hill. They join the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughs, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Curtis Sittenfeld, who all called Washington home, at least for a time.

There are many other writers toiling away in Washington. You can find them in such places as The Writing Center in Bethesda, or working with the Washington Writers Publishing House or Lines and Stars, or teaching at Universities across the region. Most have a “real” job and fit in writing time between commutes and loads of laundry and paying DC parking tickets and grocery shopping. You can also find them in one of Washington’s healthy number of writing groups, both ad-hoc and more formalized. They periodically advertise on Craig’s List or in the Citypaper for new members. I’ve been involved with groups like this, and they are filled with smart, earnest people who work hard at their writing.

This site is for all these writers, and anyone else interested in the local literary scene. Like politics, all (good) writing is local: it describes a concrete time and place and the real people who live there. Washington is full of writers who are creating good writing.