"I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that …"

"I'm not interested in being a black writer. I'm interested in being a writer who happens to be black."

"I don't think there's any such thing as a female writer. I think there are writers."

"I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs, you have the privilege of not being a slave.'"

"The best art is political and you ought to make it political."