Not so deep down, we all know that safety is an illusion, that only character melds us together. That’s why most of us do everything we can (healthy and unhealthy) to ward off that real feeling of standing alone so… — Kiese Laymon Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share
“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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
I wish every American explored the importance of novel writing, identity, honesty, character and place in fresh-ass ways. — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
“I swear that white folks need to just shut the hell up sometimes. Y'all make it hard for everybody.” — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
Long Division has a lot of Afrosurrealist impulses. I think the book was more Afrofuturist when it was like 700 pages. — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
“Y'all taught me that unacknowledged scars accumulated in battles won often hurt more than battles lost.” — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
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 Copy Share
I'm also, than anything else, a teacher and a student. And without the four hours, I'm pretty monsterish. For real. — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
I'm an obsessive writer who needs and loves revision. Writing helps me learn and helps me teach. — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
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 Copy Share
I'm not good enough as a person and definitely not good enough as a writer. — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
“I think of my grandma and remember that old feeling of being so in love that nothing matters except seeing and being seen by… — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
I'm interested in how the confessional is so abrasively critiqued today. I'm not really comfortable with simply confessing but I do think "confessing" is… — Kiese Laymon Copy Share
