With all the main characters that I write, it’s always very important to me that they have good and bad aspects of their personality. It’s important to me that they’re complicated and that they’re human. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
I don’t really base any of my characters on specific people that I know, although my characters are informed by the kind of people who live in my community. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
As a reader, sometimes, I just want to not think. You know, I want to read something that is purely enjoyable: that is, like, escapist. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
As an artist, I feel a certain responsibility to write about difficult subject matter. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
One of the most important things that I want for my kids is I want them to live. You know, I want them to live to see 21 and beyond. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the family my mother worked for. It was hard being the only one, and I faced a fair amount of racist and classist bullying there. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
Part of me is stuck in my childhood in the Eighties. I actually watch ‘The Neverending Story,’ ‘Labyrinth,’ and ‘Legend’ over and over again. Also, ‘Willow’ and ‘The Goonies.’ Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
I’ve always used Southern rappers in epigraphs for my novels. For ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing,’ I wanted to use Big K.R.I.T. – because I have so much respect for the lyrical depth of their music. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
I try to treat writing as part of my daily routine: I write for at least two hours, five days per week. I tend to write at home, in a room I’ve set aside for the task. I don’t work well in cafes or busy, loud spaces, although I wish I could. It would mean greater flexibility for me. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
I worked with several writers at the University of Michigan: Nicholas Delbanco, Peter Ho Davies, Eileen Pollack, Laura Kasischke, and Thomas Lynch, who told me the same thing over and over again: Persist. Read, write, and improve: tell your stories. Jesmyn Ward Read Quote
