Firsts Quotes by Kiese Laymon

I allude to Back to the Future in the 1985 story to let folks know it was an inspiration and because it literally was…

— Kiese Laymon

“I lie in a bathtub of cold water, still sweating and singing love songs to myself. I put the gun to my head and…

— Kiese Laymon

I'm a black writer from Mississippi. That's what I most consider myself.

— Kiese Laymon

In essay writing, I'm trying to push the form of expository writing. I'm trying to remember, trying to reckon, trying to find connections with…

— Kiese Laymon

I wish every American explored the importance of novel writing, identity, honesty, character and place in fresh-ass ways.

— Kiese Laymon

“I swear that white folks need to just shut the hell up sometimes. Y'all make it hard for everybody.”

— Kiese Laymon

Long Division has a lot of Afrosurrealist impulses. I think the book was more Afrofuturist when it was like 700 pages.

— Kiese Laymon

“Y'all taught me that unacknowledged scars accumulated in battles won often hurt more than battles lost.”

— Kiese Laymon

First of all, the novel should be a critique of the novels that have come before it in a language that broadens the audience…

— Kiese Laymon

I'm also, than anything else, a teacher and a student. And without the four hours, I'm pretty monsterish. For real.

— Kiese Laymon

I'm an obsessive writer who needs and loves revision. Writing helps me learn and helps me teach.

— Kiese Laymon

I'm accountable - this sounds emo - to black American writing, Southern writing, Southern black American writing, American writing and my people. That's kind…

— Kiese Laymon