Twenty original essays explore how some of the most influential and best-loved writers of our time were shaped by their inspirational teachers.

What makes a good teacher? What lights the writer’s creative fire? How can the teacher shape the writer? This landmark volume answers these questions and more in a wide-ranging celebration of the trailblazers of the teaching profession. By turns reflective, entertaining, and moving, the essays describe the powerful influence of mentors and the long-lasting impression they can leave on their students.

With contributions from Margaret Drabble, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Paul Theroux, David Lodge, Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, Pulitzer Prize–winners Stephen Greenblatt and Gretchen Gerzina, former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, and many more, Writers and Their Teachers is an elegant celebration of the “noble profession” and the world-renowned writers it helped hone.

Dale Salwak is professor of English literature at Citrus College in California. He is the author of twenty-eight books, including Writers and Their Mothers. He is a frequent contributor to Times Higher Education and Times Educational Supplement.