Richard Goodman

Photo by Ellis Anderson.

Richard Goodman is the author of French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France. His other books are The Soul of Creative Writing, A New York Memoir and The Bicycle Diaries: One New Yorker's Journey Through 9-11. I've written for The New York Times, Harvard Review, Creative Nonfiction, Vanity Fair, Ascent, Saveur, River Teeth, North American Review, Hippocampus, French Quarter Journal and the Michigan Quarterly Review. I co-edited The Gulf South: An Anthology of Environmental Writing. I write about living in rural Louisiana and sundry things in a newsletter.

Join me September 27-October 2, 2026 for a week in the South of France to inspire your writing!

The village of Mouriès in the South of France where we will write in the fall of 2026.

Selected Works

French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France

"I possess a deep prejudice against anything written by Anglo-Saxons about their lives in or near French villages. So, Richard, I thank you for breaking the spell. I like very much what you wrote."

–M.F.K. Fisher

"Goodman borrows a plot of land on which to grow a garden, a project that his neighbors view first with curiosity, then with sympathy and a deepening sense of involvement. There's a genuine sweetness about the way the cucumbers and tomatoes bridge the divide of nationality."

-Francine Prose, New York Times

The Gulf South: An Anthology of Environmental Writing

"It is an arduous task to compile an anthology that attempts to capture the essence of the Gulf South and its environs in the modern era, but the editors have done the near-impossible task in their new collection."

--Liz Skilton, U. Lousiana at Lafayette

A New York Memoir

"One can learn much from this man who feels tender toward cobblestones and old women, nostalgic about a daughter's childhood, frightened at the prospect of dying alone—a rare individual who, with honesty, sensuousness, and keen observation, turns yearning and remembrance into art."

–Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue

The Soul of Creative Writing

"Richard Goodman’s marvelous book, The Soul of Creative Writing, will instruct, delight, edify, challenge, reassure, and guide any student of writing to a personal best."

–Molly Peacock, author of Cornucopia: New & Selected Poems

Quick Links

The Book That Changed My Life

My First Stand-up

I did my first stand-up performance in New Orleans at the Sports Drink Cafe.