I think the difference between writing as someone and writing for them is that when you write for someone, you take on a kind of political burden or message, which I don't think we have the right to do.

Being part of a community of writers is huge. I really think that's why people go to MFA programs.

It's hard to say which of us is luckier, the ones who go through long periods when they can't write or the ones who can write pretty easily.

In many cultures, women are sometimes literally kept from learning to read or from going to school.

I think the difference between writing as someone and writing for them is that when you write for someone, you take on a kind of political burden or message, which I don't think we have the right to do.

Certainly children are being encouraged far more than they were seventy-five years ago and are more accepted as they are.

I don't think a white person can write accurately and convincingly about what black people experience of oppression.