Who's Writing This?

<p>After seeing a new translation of Jorge Luis Borges′s mini-essay Borges and I (included here) Halpern asked numerous writers to muse briefly on the fictional persona ′behind the scenes′ the alter(ed) ego that accompanies creation. </p><p> He asked some 50 well-known authors-such as Margaret Atwood Pat Conroy William Gass Czeslaw Milosz James Michener Joyce Carol Oates and Cynthia Ozick-to write pieces on this idea. The essays are mostly one- to two-page snapshots and vary widely as to approach. Some are touching others delightfully silly. </p><p> Edward Gorey anagrams his name into those of characters including Ogdred Weary. Others such as Cecil Brown posit earthier personas: He is the proper Negro who is ashamed of me the nigger. And still others are reflective: Susan Sontag recalls her longtime disavowal of her work and finally comes to feel that the writer is me: not my double and thus she is both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Each contributor also submitted a whimsical self-portrait.</p>