If I ever teach writing again, I’d say the first lesson is to listen.

When you're a writer, you have to write these stories, even if you don't get paid

But I don't really write to honor the past. I write to investigate, to try to figure out what happened and why it happened, knowing I'll never really know. I think all the writers that I admire have this same desire, the desire to bring order out of chaos.

I’ve known people that the world has thrown everything at to discourage them...to break their spirit. And yet something about them retains a dignity. They face life and don’t ask quarters.

I come out of a strong oral tradition in the South.

I'm a social writer in the sense that I want to record, but not in the sense of trying to change people's minds.

If I ever teach writing again, I’d say the first lesson is to listen.