Through a critical discussion of an array of written and visual texts that feature a writer as a main character, Geniuses, Addicts, and Scribbling Women: Portraits of the Writer in Popular Culture argues for a more nuanced conception of the role of writers in society, their relationships with their reading publics, the portrayals and realities of their labor, and the construction of a “writing” identity.

Expounding upon the critical genre of authorship studies, the contributors take on complex issues such as economics, professionalization, gender politics, and writing pedagogy to shape the dialogue around the nature of representation and the practice of narrative. Ultimately, contributors consider the ways in which debates over art, craft, authorial celebrity, and the literary marketplace define the parameters of culture in a given period and influence the work of culture producers. The implications of such an analysis reveal much about the status and value of creative writers and their work.

This collection covers a wide range of historical periods offering a complex understanding of representations of writers from the medieval period to the Netflix era. Such an evolution challenges the perception of the writer as a monolithic presence in society and highlights its multiplicity, diversity, and its transformations through cultural and political movements.