I hadn't published a book of poetry in over a decade because I've been very ill. As I got better and started to write, I said, 'Wow, even as an old woman, I could have a selected book of poems.' — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
My characters don't talk necessarily in a normal American way of talking. They talk a little different. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
It still amazes and fascinates me that women of color have kept my work alive for these many generations. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
I write for young girls of color, for girls who don't even exist yet, so that there is something there for them when they… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
My family moved around a lot, so I don't have any friends that I had all my life, but I did have annual trips… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
i usedta live in the world really be in the world free & sweet talkin good mornin & thank-you & nice day uh huh… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
The slaves who were ourselves had known terror intimately, confused sunrise with pain, & accepted indifference as kindness. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
White people use their literature to maintain culture. That's why you find references to Milton and Spencer and Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky in contemporary novels. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
Art gives us the opportunity to have clarity as well as hope that we might be able to survive a situation, or hope that… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
I think art is a healing force, and if we give in to the joy that can be found in art, then we are… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
