Jacqueline Woodson

The epistolary form is one of the hardest to write. It's so hard to show something that's bigger in a letter. Plus, you have to have the balance of how many letters are going to work to tell the story and how few are going to make it fall apart.

American Writer

Isabella Bird

The Malays, like the Japanese, have a most rigid epistolary etiquette and set forms for letter writing. Letters must consist of six parts and are so highly elaborate that the scribes who indite them are almost looked upon as litterateurs.

English Explorer

Sally Rooney

Dominant and emerging forms of interpersonal communication have to find their way into literary language somehow - think of the epistolary novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Irish Author

Maria Semple

Where'd You Go, Bernadette' is an epistolary novel - one told in letters. I had no idea how much fun it would be, puzzling together the plot with letters and documents.

American Novelist

I love epistolary novels and became wildly excited when the form presented itself to me.

Kristina McMorris

Letters From Home' is a story inspired by my grandparents' epistolary courtship.

American Author

Epistolary works use letters, diary entries, or other documents to tell a story.

Literary Device

Epistolary novels can provide deep insight into characters' thoughts and feelings.

Character Insight

Epistolary writing often feels more personal, as if reading someone's private letters.

Personal Touch

Understanding epistolary as a form helps appreciate its role in historical communication.