Matt de la Pena

I've always wanted to write about the other side of the tracks, the have-nots, maybe because that's who I was.

— Matt de la Pena

Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author in the world. I love him so much. There's one book that informs me more than…

— Matt de la Pena

The Color Purple really floored me. That book was just incredible because I loved the language. The biggest deal of that book…

— Matt de la Pena

“Shoeshine looked disappointed. “Don’t do that, young fella.” “Do what?” “Try and label everyone you meet.” The man coughed again. “It’s lazy.”

— Matt de la Pena

The whole guilt thing of not feeling Mexican enough was a big deal, too. On the one hand, you have your grandmother…

— Matt de la Pena

When I was in school, I was very much into just sports, mostly basketball, and didn't really see myself as much of…

— Matt de la Pena

This is me putting it simply; the politicians are one demographic and they see that Arizona is changing. I feel like the…

— Matt de la Pena

I used to be so angry about the kids that had stuff. Like the kids that had cars, the kids that had…

— Matt de la Pena

A lot of people ask me, 'Are you born a writer?' And I don't think it's necessarily true. I just think what…

— Matt de la Pena

But mostly I remember every morning before school. How she'd say "Hey, honey!" just I was walking out the apartment door. And…

— Matt de la Pena

To me, if the writing doesn't have rhythm, it feels dead. I lose all confidence. The music has to emerge to feel…

— Matt de la Pena

I worked in a schizophrenic home when I was an undergrad. You learned to be jaded to the crazy things they would…

— Matt de la Pena

I was really drawn to spoken-word style poetry. I loved the rhythms, and for some reason, I was just drawn to this…

— Matt de la Pena

A surprising number of teens I meet in rougher schools around the country find refuge in novels and creative writing. It's not…

— Matt de la Pena

In all of my books, I really want to work with working-class people. My goal is to show the moments of grace…

— Matt de la Pena

I only know what it's like to be an author with social media. I can't compare. I do think we lose the…

— Matt de la Pena

People always think there's this huge hundred-foot-high barrier that separates doing good from doing bad. But there's not. There's nothing. There's not…

— Matt de la Pena

When I'm there, it's pure silence. There are other writers there, too, and I get super competitive. I have this weird fear…

— Matt de la Pena

Once I start writing, I am a huge reviser. To me writing is revising. I probably turn over every sentence that I…

— Matt de la Pena