Dave Eggers: 'Once you let a machine write for you, you're cooked'

Eggers begins our interview by suggesting we do life drawing together. He dropped out of art school but has drawn for decades, and now runs regular sessions at the book-lined McSweeney’s offices. He shows how to hold a pencil at arm’s length and use a thumb to measure proportion, arguing that three hours of drawing a human teaches you a great deal about them and cultivates affection through the effort to get them right.

His work extends beyond books. Eggers has founded numerous nonprofits to reduce barriers to literature and the arts, and his latest project, Art + Water, will offer free studio space in exchange for mentorship from established artists. He calls the cost of a US MFA “absurd” and condemns the “arts industrial complex” that creates economic barriers to creative classes.

Nearby, the International Library of Youth Writing and the original 826 Valencia pirate-supply shop showcase work by children from the writing centres he helped found.

United States

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