AI & I · Wednesday, July 29, 2026
The conversation highlighted Annie Dillard's ability to balance descriptions of beauty with explorations of the world's 'worst' aspects, such as her chapter on insects. Kelly noted that this capacity for both the sublime and the stark makes her writing particularly compelling.
“But another thing that's really interesting about her writing and I'm curious how you've thought about this in your own work is, um, she spends a lot of time talking about the beauty of the world, but she also spends a lot of time talking about the worst of the world.”
“Like there's an entire chapter on insects and how gross insects are.”
“And she's also angry about it and not afraid to be angry about it, you know?”
“And I think a lot of writers are either one or the other, either you're really angry or you're really everything is beautiful and awesome and she does both pretty well.”