I think that if you're writing about the human condition, my God, you've got to start at base: point zero, point one, is the body.

You don't want to let go, but don't want to be hurt, either. It's not a great place to be but what can I tell you?

People can say what they want, but historically, feminism in the Dominican Republic has been extremely strong.

I've been trying to write. I also spent a lot of time on different campuses, in conversation, helping other writers. That's what I do: I teach them writing.

When you're the ones in the life raft and you have four or five women in the life raft who put it together, by the end of it your nerves are blown. The people you're going to attack are the people who are helping you, who you are holding it together with.

There's a long-term tradition of white supremacy in this country. [Donald] Trump isn't something entirely new. But then there is the crisis for white supremacy in this country now where you have people of color standing up for themselves in ways that they've never stood up for themselves or at least standing up for themselves in a generational, novel way.

I always individuate myself from other writers who say they would die if they couldn't write. For me, I'd die if I couldn't read.