Willie Nelson and Literary Citizenship

“Mostly, literary citizenship is the importance of remembering that no one is alone in the writing world.” ~Roxane Gay

For years now, I’ve wanted to write about literary citizenship—especially during those public and author events where “the citizenry” was excelling.

I also wanted to write about it (literary citizenship) during those cringy moments or events when other authors or speakers or literary hosts were flunking the citizenship test. Badly.

This summer (2025), two things got me writing on this topic.

First, I came across this recorded interview with Willie Nelson and his wife on their family ethos or guiding principles.

Next, inspired by the Nelson interview, I pitched a craft essay, “Willie Nelson and the Three G’s of Literary Citizenship” to The Brevity Blog, where it was accepted and published.

Here’s an excerpt from that essay:

In her AWP article, “The Eight Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves,” Roxane Gay lists literary citizenship as Question Number One, writing: “Mostly, literary citizenship is the importance of remembering that no one is alone in the writing world. Conduct yourself as such.”

Now, while the Nelsons’ three-part conduct guide is catchy, it’s about what not to do (“Don’t be an a**hole”). 

Me? I prefer a list of “do’s.”