Looking to expand your summer reading list?  Poets & Writers Magazine’s online exclusive, “Writers Recommend,” asks authors to share the books, art, music, writing prompts, and films that have impacted their work.  Recent contributors include Ru Freeman, author of “A Disobedient Girl;” Sally Van Doren, author of “Sex at Noon Taxes;” and Jessica Anthony, author of “The Convalescent.” Check out the complete list here. 

It’s true that no one creates art in a vacuum; some of the great pieces have sprung out of creative responses to other works.  Jeanette Winterson’s collection of essays, “Art Objects,” was inspired by a painting she saw in an Amsterdam gallery window.  Is there a piece of art, literature, or music that inspired a particular piece you’ve written; or is there some medium you constantly turn to for inspiration and rejuvenation when you’re stuck?