A good poem is an amazing thing: a perfectly distilled, articulate moment. It opens you up – sometimes slowly, like the blooming of a flower, and sometimes with a quick knife-slice. Celeste Ng Read Quote
Somewhere in the Commandments of Reviewing must be written, ‘Thou shalt not compare Asians to non-Asians.’ Celeste Ng Read Quote
I was fortunate to have many teachers who encouraged me – one of the first was Dianne Derrick, my 5th grade teacher at Woodbury Elementary. She challenged us to write creatively and praised my work, but most importantly, she treated writing like it was important. Celeste Ng Read Quote
Spend enough time wrangling a toddler, and you get good at being kind but firm. Like your child, you must be doggedly single-minded when it matters. Celeste Ng Read Quote
Short fiction and the novel, nonfiction and fiction, electronic texts and books – these are not opposites. One need not destroy the other to survive. Celeste Ng Read Quote
Local politics is just as important as national – and often easier to influence. Celeste Ng Read Quote
Writing is like shouting into the world. So when someone shouts back, it’s a really big deal. To have people who read hundreds and hundreds of books a year say, ‘Hey, we thought this was really great,’ that’s a huge self-esteem boost. Celeste Ng Read Quote
I am not a contest-enterer by nature. But contests – and their entry fees – are often the main way literary journals raise money to, you know, publish their issues. So entering contests helps support the journal, which also helps support the writers they publish. Celeste Ng Read Quote