Austin Kleon
Writer and artist, author of Steal Like an Artist; publishes a weekly newsletter and an annual list of the books he read.
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What they believe
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The notebook is where a writer works out what is going on inside them; the keyboard is where they tell other people about it.
The notebook is the place where you figure out what’s going on inside you or what’s rattling around. And then, the keyboard is the place that you go to tell people about it.
austinkleon.comSaid 7 Sept 2024This on korrents
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Reading bad work is instructive as well as reassuring, so a maker should not read only the good stuff.
Yes! Reading bad writing not only boosts one’s confidence, it can be very instructive.
austinkleon.comSaid 7 Sept 2023This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
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- BlogInside the cartoon library
- x.com
29 September
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Four QuartetsTheir words
A re-read of one of my favorite books of poetry, and an excellent traveling companion
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
MuybridgeTheir words
I think this book is a contemporary masterpiece? A cartoonist at the top of his game, a perfect meeting of subject and medium, and beautiful book design by Drawn and Quarterly.
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
War and PeaceTheir words
While reading War and Peace, I marveled over and over again at how something written so long ago can be so applicable to our times while still being very much of its own time.
+ 12 more
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Anna KareninaTheir words
I love Tolstoy because you get a third of a way into his book about a lady having an affair and the best chapter is about a dude experiencing a state of "flow" while mowing a field with his country peasants.
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Tolstoy: A BiographyTheir words
A.N. Wilson's Tolstoy: A Biography is excellent.
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Recommendsaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett GiamattiTheir words
That's the opening of "The Green Fields of the Mind," collected in this slim, wonderful volume. Recommended if you like thinking about America, baseball, and The Odyssey.
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing StoriesTheir words
One of the most gorgeously-produced books I read, with illustrations by Matthew Forsythe.
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Train DreamsTheir words
It's as sad and beautiful as I remembered, but also funnier.
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Likedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through ItTheir words
Booth's formally trained (and her grandparents are watercolor artists!) but her use of color is just so free and unexpected, it makes you want to experiment yourself and join along in the fun.
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the SixtiesTheir words
I think the absolute best book I've ever read about The Beatles is Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties.
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Likedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
On Conan DoyleTheir words
I also read critic Michael Dirda's On Conan Doyle, a lovely short book I'd never heard of that I spotted on the shelf at the library — hooray for the serendipity of the stacks!
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Lovedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
The Hedgehog and The FoxTheir words
Probably the most illuminating thing I read about Tolstoy was Isaiah Berlin's long essay, The Hedgehog and The Fox.
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Mixed onaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Art Work: On The Creative LifeTheir words
This book has more of a DGAF tone than Hold Still, I think, and it works best for me when Mann is telling stories instead of trying to extract a lesson for the reader.
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Readaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Love is a Mix TapeTheir words
Several people recommended this memoir to me after learning about my monthly mixtape project.
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Likedaffiliate linkrcmnd.app
Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s NebraskaTheir words
I love the beginning of the book when Zane just lists the stuff that Springsteen was into while he was making Nebraska
7 September 2024
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Their words
The notebook is the place where you figure out what’s going on inside you or what’s rattling around. And then, the keyboard is the place that you go to tell people about it.
7 September 2023
From one piece Read terrible books, too 2 beliefs · austinkleon.com
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Their words
What you want to avoid, I think, is mediocre writing, which neither thrills nor instructs.
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korrents.com
Reading bad work is instructive as well as reassuring, so a maker should not read only the good stuff.Their words
Yes! Reading bad writing not only boosts one’s confidence, it can be very instructive.
12 October 2022
From one piece Starting from scraps 2 beliefs · austinkleon.com
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Their words
Hence, the necessity of shitty first drafts.
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korrents.com
Writing gets better when it is handled physically, like a collage of scraps pushed around, rather than composed.Their words
I’m constantly on a quest to make writing more hands on — more manipulative, in the sense that you’re using your hands to shape it. The more I treat writing like one of my collages, the better it gets.
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 5 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The notebook is where a writer works out what is going on inside them; the keyboard is where they tell other people about it.
The notebook is the place where you figure out what’s going on inside you or what’s rattling around. And then, the keyboard is the place that you go to tell people about it.
The notebook is where you figure out what's going on Said 7 Sept 2024
Reading bad work is instructive as well as reassuring, so a maker should not read only the good stuff.
Yes! Reading bad writing not only boosts one’s confidence, it can be very instructive.
Read terrible books, too Said 7 Sept 2023
The mediocre is the only thing worth avoiding: the best and the worst both teach you something, the middle teaches nothing.
What you want to avoid, I think, is mediocre writing, which neither thrills nor instructs.
Read terrible books, too Said 7 Sept 2023
Show 2 more
Writing gets better when it is handled physically, like a collage of scraps pushed around, rather than composed.
I’m constantly on a quest to make writing more hands on — more manipulative, in the sense that you’re using your hands to shape it. The more I treat writing like one of my collages, the better it gets.
Starting from scraps Said 12 Oct 2022
A first draft is necessarily bad, and that is exactly why one has to be written.
Hence, the necessity of shitty first drafts.
Starting from scraps Said 12 Oct 2022
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 18 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Liked Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska
I love the beginning of the book when Zane just lists the stuff that Springsteen was into while he was making Nebraska
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
What others say about Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska →
Read Love is a Mix Tape
Several people recommended this memoir to me after learning about my monthly mixtape project.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Mixed on Art Work: On The Creative Life
This book has more of a DGAF tone than Hold Still, I think, and it works best for me when Mann is telling stories instead of trying to extract a lesson for the reader.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Show 15 more
Loved The Hedgehog and The Fox
Probably the most illuminating thing I read about Tolstoy was Isaiah Berlin's long essay, The Hedgehog and The Fox.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Liked On Conan Doyle
I also read critic Michael Dirda's On Conan Doyle, a lovely short book I'd never heard of that I spotted on the shelf at the library — hooray for the serendipity of the stacks!
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties
I think the absolute best book I've ever read about The Beatles is Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
What others say about Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties →
Liked Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It
Booth's formally trained (and her grandparents are watercolor artists!) but her use of color is just so free and unexpected, it makes you want to experiment yourself and join along in the fun.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
What others say about Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It →
Loved Train Dreams
It's as sad and beautiful as I remembered, but also funnier.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories
One of the most gorgeously-produced books I read, with illustrations by Matthew Forsythe.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
What others say about The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories →
Recommends A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett Giamatti
That's the opening of "The Green Fields of the Mind," collected in this slim, wonderful volume. Recommended if you like thinking about America, baseball, and The Odyssey.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
What others say about A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett Giamatti →
Loved Tolstoy: A Biography
Loved Anna Karenina
I love Tolstoy because you get a third of a way into his book about a lady having an affair and the best chapter is about a dude experiencing a state of "flow" while mowing a field with his country peasants.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved War and Peace
While reading War and Peace, I marveled over and over again at how something written so long ago can be so applicable to our times while still being very much of its own time.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved Muybridge
I think this book is a contemporary masterpiece? A cartoonist at the top of his game, a perfect meeting of subject and medium, and beautiful book design by Drawn and Quarterly.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved Four Quartets
A re-read of one of my favorite books of poetry, and an excellent traveling companion
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Loved Story of A Poem
Could a book be more up my alley? The way he unpacks his feelings about giftedness, overachieving, language, disability, and difference really spoke to me.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Liked Brothers
Alex Van Halen's memoir Brothers is the 3rd good book I've read about Van Halen.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Liked Written Lives
I had a lot of fun reading it, thanks to Elisa Gabbert's annual year-end list of every book she read.
austinkleon.com 14 Jan 2026
affiliate link
Where they publish
Blog austinkleon.com His blog, including the annual "my reading year" book lists.
Recent
- Archival issues 13 Oct 2026 I have been writing a special Tuesday newsletter for paid subscribers for five years now, which means there’s a bunch of really good stuff just kind of hiding in the archives over there. I’ve tagged a lot of of it on th…
- Are we a teardown or a fixer-upper? 13 Oct 2026 Last week’s newsletter began: An out-of-town developer tore a house down at the end of my street and cut down every single tree on the lot. As I watched the big T-Rex excavator claw down the walls, a thought ran through…
- Typewriter interviews with Roz Chast and Paul Noth 13 Oct 2026 This was not entirely pre-planned, but: it turns out I’m publishing a typewriter interview with a cartoonist every week of October, and I just now realized they’re all contributors to The New Yorker. The first two are R…
Show 7 more
- Inside the cartoon library 30 Sept 2026 Curators Jenny Robb and Caitlin McGurk took me on a 45-minute guided tour of one of my favorite places: the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum on the OSU campus in Columbus, Ohio. Really fun. Watch the video.
- Learning by drawing 29 Sept 2026 In last Friday’s newsletter, I wrote about helping my sixth grader with homework: I’ve been inspired lately by how many people I admire have moved to an analog notebook-based method of teaching. I really believe that in…
- Typewriter interview with Roman Muradov 29 Sept 2026 The latest typewriter interview is with artist Roman Muradov.
- The Bad Place 29 Sept 2026 We are rewatching The Good Place, a sitcom that ran during the first Trump administration, this time with our tweens. It’s a show about moral philsophy and what it means to be a good person, but it’s also a show about t…
- Still summer (a mixtape) 23 Sept 2026 “Still Summer” is a mixtape full of jazz/electronic/ambient music that evokes the kind of cool, spooky wind and crunchy leaves that I pine for here in Texas when the fall equinox hits and it’s still 99 degrees outside:…
- Typewriter interview with Esther Pearl Watson 22 Sept 2026 The latest typewriter interview is with artist Esther Pearl Watson. (I can’t believe I’ve published 30 of these things!)
- Summer misery 22 Sept 2026 My last two Friday newsletters have referenced the late summer misery of September. (See: “The cruelest month.”) From “The Birds are in misery”: It is so miserable in Texas right now that I’ve taken to reciting Werner H…
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
x.com @austinkleon His posting account.
Recent
- Baseball Twitter is so good ⚾️ 15 Oct 2026
- I’ve never really used Reddit before (I did an AMA once) — it’s funny to see your interests listed 😂 13 Oct 2026
- Golly, this was fun to watch last night ⚾️ 13 Oct 2026
Show 17 more
- I somehow had never seen TOMBSTONE before and now I want a listicle that’s like, “movies where one actor is acting in a better and/or different movie than the one they’re in” 12 Oct 2026
- Cleveland! ⚾️ 11 Oct 2026
- The Catholic in my house rn 3 Oct 2026
- It’s the moooost wonderful tiiiiime of the year ⚾️ 30 Sept 2026
- Been re-watching THE GOOD PLACE, this time with my tweens, and thinking about how it kind of sums up my feelings about social media — it’s all The Bad Place, but at least here, on this website, you know it’s The Bad Place (and let ‘er rip accordingly) 29 Sept 2026
- Just read THE DENIAL OF DEATH, imo 29 Sept 2026
- “for people who would like to spend twenty to a hundred dollars a month to be a middle manager of their own lives” 29 Sept 2026
- Another great Cunningham’s Law move — love seeing people bring up Charles Portis, etc. 16 Sept 2026
- Cunningham’s law, baby. Works every time: “The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer.” 16 Sept 2026
- There’s so much in this short clip: the Quixote/Panza archetype, but also, in Steinberg’s words, what we respond to in art is the artist pushing against their limitations. 1 Sept 2026
- “How is it not called OTHER MOTHER?” I said, loudly, afterwards 21 Jul 2026
- Happy Fourth of July you 4 Jul 2026
- “The immense stupidity of modern times enrages me.” —Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) 1 Jul 2026
- Cheapest you’re ever gonna get em 25 Jun 2026
- My tweens genuinely love it 23 Jun 2026
- My new book is out today!! 2 Jun 2026 austinkleon.com
- What I look like after signing 400 books 30 May 2026
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
YouTube Austin Kleon Short videos about creative work.
Recent
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
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