Preface / Julia Alvarez -- The writer herself : an introduction ; A second introduction to the year 2000 / Janet Sternburg -- Still just writing / Anne Tyler -- Why I write / Joan Didion -- Parable of the case or : In praise of watercolors -- De memoria / Nancy Milford -- My grandmother who painted / Honor Moore -- Creating oneself from scratch / Michele Murray -- On being female, black, and free / Margaret Walker -- Thoughts on writing : a diary / Susan Griffin -- One child of one's own : a meaningful digression within the work(s) / Alice Walker -- Middle period / Ingrid Bengis -- What it is I think I'm doing / Toni Cade Bambara -- Blood and guts : the tricky problem of being a woman writer in the late twentieth century / Erica Jong -- Coming book / Maxine Hong Kingston -- Opening nights : the opening days / Janet Burroway -- Education of a poet / Muriel Rukeyser -- Becoming a writer / Gail Godwin.