We will not know our own injustice if we cannot imagine justice. We will not be free if we do not imagine freedom. We cannot demand that anyone try to attain justice and freedom who has not had a chance to imagine them as attainable.
As a writer, you are free.
No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.
George, it's impossible to correct a defective reality-orientation overnight.
The creative adult is the child who has survived.
I have become very critical of the whole book award system and could preach on that subject for quite a while, but I do know what an award can mean to a writer early in her career. It can give an essential validation.