Don't write about trying to change the world, just write about a changed world or a world that's not changing. Let that do the work.
Paul BeattyIn The Sellout I tried to capture how we can talk and see race, how we see urbanity, and how we see our history.
Paul BeattyThere are things I don't like, like sitting at the head of the class. It makes me uncomfortable. I'll do it in a seminar if I have to, but with a workshop, I try to put myself in the circle somewhere. Because that hopefully frees up some people by making somebody else sit at the nominal head of the table.
Paul BeattyThere are always so many things happening [to us] at one time. We read Isherwood's A Single Man in class, and we had to ask: How is he talking about all this stuff: teaching, being lonely, all his memories, all at the same time? He's telling us: This is where my head is at, let me be straightforward. And of course, try be artful about it.
Paul Beatty