---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The essay community should have hundreds…"
description: "\"The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg"
---

#  The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies…

![“The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new work, and new visions for our genre. The whole spirit of these anthologies is that there should never be a last word in how essays are interpreted…” quote by John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg)

> “The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new work, and new visions for our genre. The whole spirit of these anthologies is that there should never be a last word in how essays are interpreted or what they can be.”

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Advocates for diverse, ongoing anthology series to keep the essay form evolving and open-ended.

**In simple terms:** Encourages endless reinterpretation of essays through many voices.

Key Takeaway

Support and seek out varied essay anthologies.

Themes

diversity innovation literary evolution

Mood

inspirational thoughtful

Type

literary educational

When to use this quote

- academic courses
- literary festivals
- publishing houses
- creative writing workshops

Key Concepts

anthology curation genre fluidity reader engagement

Questions to Reflect On

- How can emerging writers gain inclusion in such anthologies?
- What mechanisms keep an anthology series dynamic?

A Different Perspective

May be limited by market demand and publishing resources.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Anthologies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthologies/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Different perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-perspective/) [Different perspectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-perspectives/) [Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre/) [Last Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-word/) [Last words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-words/) [New vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-vision/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/)

[Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/)

> [“She would keep playing the role of the winner as long as the audience believed her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-papas/she-would-keep-playing-the-role-of-the-winner-as-long-as-the-audience/)

[Mary Papas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-papas/)

> [Beginning in middle school, the era of wide-margined, Bible-paged anthologies, short stories develop unpromising associations - and these associations often linger through college, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-dolnick/beginning-in-middle-school-the-era-of-wide-margined-bible-paged/)

[Ben Dolnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-dolnick/)

> [There have been a lot of horror anthologies as of late; movies like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death have brought the anthology back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mendez/there-have-been-a-lot-of-horror-anthologies-as-of-late-movies-like-v/)

[Mike Mendez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mendez/)

> [However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/)

[Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/)

> [making final judgements about poets, cities or regions on the basis of an anthology is always dangerous: anthologies are mirages created, finally, by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/making-final-judgements-about-poets-cities-or-regions-on-the-basis-of/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Anthologies are mischievous things. Some years ago there was a rage for chemically predigested food, which was only suppressed when doctors pointed out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/anthologies-are-mischievous-things-some-years-ago-there-was-a-rage/)

[Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/)

> [Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/since-i-m-a-fan-of-collections-and-anthologies-believe-that-the-best/)

[James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/)

> [“The runway splayed out at her feet and at its height were the limits of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-buchta/the-runway-splayed-out-at-her-feet-and-at-its-height-were-the-limits/)

Theresa Buchta

> [The first writers are first and the rest, in the long run, nowhere but in anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-clinton-van-doren/the-first-writers-are-first-and-the-rest-in-the-long-run-nowhere-but/)

[Carl Clinton Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-clinton-van-doren/)

> [I am an anthologist, you see. I sort of make anthologies for people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-rees/i-am-an-anthologist-you-see-i-sort-of-make-anthologies-for-people/)

[Roger Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-rees/)

> [I'll tell you what I miss most. What I would love to do, more than anything, is just anthologies. With an anthology you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-spelling/i-ll-tell-you-what-i-miss-most-what-i-would-love-to-do-more-than/)

[Aaron Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-spelling/)

> [Oh, I love to read more than anything. I always love the 'New Stories From the South' anthologies - I think it's the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-alibar/oh-i-love-to-read-more-than-anything-i-always-love-the-new-stories/)

[Lucy Alibar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-alibar/)

> [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/)

[Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/)

> [“And found there one of those huge comprehensive anthologies of literature, the sort of thing which, on a bad day, can induce an inferiority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-levine/and-found-there-one-of-those-huge-comprehensive-anthologies-of/)

[Sara Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-levine/)

## More by John D'Agata

> [Inclusiveness isn't what I want to push back against. The obsession with facts is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/inclusiveness-isn-t-what-i-want-to-push-back-against-the-obsession/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Yet there are some critics in the nonfiction world who still look at some of today's stranger interpretations of the essay and say "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/yet-there-are-some-critics-in-the-nonfiction-world-who-still-look-at/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I think that in a lot of readers' minds the essay is a lot more utilitarian than it is art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-think-that-in-a-lot-of-readers-minds-the-essay-is-a-lot-more/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [As frustrating as my time in grad school felt, it also helped tremendously because it challenged me to figure out what it was I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/as-frustrating-as-my-time-in-grad-school-felt-it-also-helped/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I'm not worried about what part of their life they needed to massage in order to achieve something that I get to experience as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-m-not-worried-about-what-part-of-their-life-they-needed-to-massage/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [You create your own audience, and your own community of peers, and in some ways you create your own forebears as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/you-create-your-own-audience-and-your-own-community-of-peers-and-in/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Even if it's a definition that feels oppressive to us, that oppression can be inspiring because it helps us push up against something while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/even-if-it-s-a-definition-that-feels-oppressive-to-us-that-oppression/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I thought that I wasn't an essayist because I just didn't see myself in a lot of the essays that were popular at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-thought-that-i-wasn-t-an-essayist-because-i-just-didn-t-see-myself/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [A risk is something that feels risky to the person who's taking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/a-risk-is-something-that-feels-risky-to-the-person-who-s-taking-it/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [You move your life across the country and make a commitment to a place, and to a genre, and then you realize that neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/you-move-your-life-across-the-country-and-make-a-commitment-to-a/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Pedagogically, we need definitions and borders. They help us get our heads around what we're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/pedagogically-we-need-definitions-and-borders-they-help-us-get-our/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [“Maybe every essay automatically is in some way experimental — less an outline traveling toward a foregone conclusion than an unmapped quest that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/maybe-every-essay-automatically-is-in-some-way-experimental-less-an/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I wanted to create an environment in which more than just personal essays could be represented, and in which stranger approaches to making essays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-wanted-to-create-an-environment-in-which-more-than-just-personal/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Sometimes what I'm looking for is the thing that will help renew people's interest in a writer that they may have written off as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/sometimes-what-i-m-looking-for-is-the-thing-that-will-help-renew/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [It's fun to just skim through piles of books in the stacks of a library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/it-s-fun-to-just-skim-through-piles-of-books-in-the-stacks-of-a/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

[Explore all 49 John D'Agata quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

## More Anthologies quotes

> [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/)

[Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/)

> [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/)

[Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/)

> [Oh, I love to read more than anything. I always love the 'New Stories From the South' anthologies - I think it's the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-alibar/oh-i-love-to-read-more-than-anything-i-always-love-the-new-stories/)

[Lucy Alibar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-alibar/)

> [I'll tell you what I miss most. What I would love to do, more than anything, is just anthologies. With an anthology you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-spelling/i-ll-tell-you-what-i-miss-most-what-i-would-love-to-do-more-than/)

[Aaron Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-spelling/)

> [I am an anthologist, you see. I sort of make anthologies for people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-rees/i-am-an-anthologist-you-see-i-sort-of-make-anthologies-for-people/)

[Roger Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-rees/)

> [The first writers are first and the rest, in the long run, nowhere but in anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-clinton-van-doren/the-first-writers-are-first-and-the-rest-in-the-long-run-nowhere-but/)

[Carl Clinton Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-clinton-van-doren/)

> [“The runway splayed out at her feet and at its height were the limits of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-buchta/the-runway-splayed-out-at-her-feet-and-at-its-height-were-the-limits/)

Theresa Buchta

> [Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/since-i-m-a-fan-of-collections-and-anthologies-believe-that-the-best/)

[James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/)

> [Anthologies are mischievous things. Some years ago there was a rage for chemically predigested food, which was only suppressed when doctors pointed out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/anthologies-are-mischievous-things-some-years-ago-there-was-a-rage/)

[Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/)

> [making final judgements about poets, cities or regions on the basis of an anthology is always dangerous: anthologies are mirages created, finally, by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/making-final-judgements-about-poets-cities-or-regions-on-the-basis-of/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/)

[Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/)

> [There have been a lot of horror anthologies as of late; movies like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death have brought the anthology back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mendez/there-have-been-a-lot-of-horror-anthologies-as-of-late-movies-like-v/)

[Mike Mendez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mendez/)

> [Beginning in middle school, the era of wide-margined, Bible-paged anthologies, short stories develop unpromising associations - and these associations often linger through college, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-dolnick/beginning-in-middle-school-the-era-of-wide-margined-bible-paged/)

[Ben Dolnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-dolnick/)

> [“She would keep playing the role of the winner as long as the audience believed her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-papas/she-would-keep-playing-the-role-of-the-winner-as-long-as-the-audience/)

[Mary Papas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-papas/)

> [“And found there one of those huge comprehensive anthologies of literature, the sort of thing which, on a bad day, can induce an inferiority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-levine/and-found-there-one-of-those-huge-comprehensive-anthologies-of/)

[Sara Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-levine/)

[Browse all 21 Anthologies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthologies/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new work, and new visions for our genre. The whole spirit of these anthologies is that there should never be a last word in how essays are interpreted or what they can be.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John D'Agata"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Anthologies"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are…” — John D'Agata",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "John D'Agata",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The essay community should have hundreds...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```