--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think there is any such thing as…" description: "\"I don't think there is any such thing as a black writer or a white writer. Ultimately, there is someone whom one reads.\" — Derek Walcott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84e/derek-walcott-2220_black_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-such-thing-as_3021790.jpg" --- # I don't think there is any such thing as a black writer or… ![“I don't think there is any such thing as a black writer or a white writer. Ultimately, there is someone whom one reads.” quote by Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84e/derek-walcott-2220_black_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-such-thing-as_3021790.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84e/derek-walcott-2220_black_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-such-thing-as_3021790.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84e/derek-walcott-2220_black_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-such-thing-as_3021790.jpg) > “I don't think there is any such thing as a black writer or a white writer. Ultimately, there is someone whom one reads.” [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writer identity transcends race; the reader engages with the work, not the label. **In simple terms:** Race doesn’t define writers. Key Takeaway Focus on the story, not the author’s race. Themes diversity identity literature Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - book clubs - curriculum design Key Concepts postcolonial theory reader response Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing an author’s background affect reading? - Can we be truly race‑neutral? A Different Perspective Racial categorization can still influence reception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-writer-364340/) [Someone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/someone/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-writer-2059241/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Ultimately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-ultimately-1174369/) [Writer White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-white-4895360/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I am not defined as a black writer in the Caribbean, but as soon as I go to America or the U.K., my place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-am-not-defined-as-a-black-writer-in-the-caribbean-but-as-soon-as-i/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“The less he sees of other writers the more of a writer he will ultimately become. When he sees scarcely anyone except other writers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-algren/the-less-he-sees-of-other-writers-the-more-of-a-writer-he-will/) [Nelson Algren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-algren/) > [“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-writer-ultimately-tires-of-the-subject-s-self-serving-story-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [For a white writer not to be able to step into the shoes of people of color confuses me. That should be the default…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-green/for-a-white-writer-not-to-be-able-to-step-into-the-shoes-of-people-of/) [Misha Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-green/) > [I heard a white writer say, 'Oh, I'd never put black people in my writing, I'm afraid I would offend someone by doing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-heard-a-white-writer-say-oh-i-d-never-put-black-people-in-my/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [But when I do book signings and personal appearances, the audiences are mostly white. Growing up here, I expected that and understand it. Black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pelecanos/but-when-i-do-book-signings-and-personal-appearances-the-audiences/) [George Pelecanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pelecanos/) > [The Black writer explains pain to those who inflict it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-childress/the-black-writer-explains-pain-to-those-who-inflict-it/) [Alice Childress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-childress/) > [At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/at-one-time-if-you-were-a-black-writer-you-had-to-be-one-of-the-best/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Of course I'm a black writer. I'm not just a black writer, but categories like black writer, woman writer and Latin American writer aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/of-course-i-m-a-black-writer-i-m-not-just-a-black-writer-but/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [At some point along the way, I stopped being a writer, and I became a black writer. I never used to be a black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-priest/at-some-point-along-the-way-i-stopped-being-a-writer-and-i-became-a/) [Christopher Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-priest/) > [I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-started-writing-in-the-90s-so-i-was-free-to-just-have-an-eccentric/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [I feel like I'm put in a position where I have to engage with what people bring to my work, which is an expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branden-jacobs-jenkins/i-feel-like-i-m-put-in-a-position-where-i-have-to-engage-with-what/) [Branden Jacobs-Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branden-jacobs-jenkins/) > [I'm a black writer from Mississippi. That's what I most consider myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiese-laymon/i-m-a-black-writer-from-mississippi-that-s-what-i-most-consider-myself/) [Kiese Laymon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiese-laymon/) > [These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/these-days-i-find-myself-wanting-to-avoid-being-pigeon-holed/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [There's an inherent idea that if a Black executive producer and a Black director are going to do a movie based on a Black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-an-inherent-idea-that-if-a-black-executive-producer-and-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Derek Walcott > [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/peel-your-own-image-from-the-mirror-sit-feast-on-your-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I don't feel I've arrived home until I get on the beach. All my life, the theater of the sea has been a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-don-t-feel-i-ve-arrived-home-until-i-get-on-the-beach-all-my-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“As human beings we’ve certainly suffered the loss of awe, the loss of sacredness, and the loss of the fact that we’re not here—…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/as-human-beings-we-ve-certainly-suffered-the-loss-of-awe-the-loss-of/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I shall unlearn feeling, unlearn my gift. 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All my life, I've been aware of her grief about his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-mother-who-is-nearly-ninety-now-still-talks-continually-about-my/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My family background really only consists of my mother. She was a widow. My father died quite young; he must have been thirty-one. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-family-background-really-only-consists-of-my-mother-she-was-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I am the man my father loved and was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-am-the-man-my-father-loved-and-was/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Like any art, what is the most imprisoning thing is also the most delivering thing. If an actor knows he only has 12 syllables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/like-any-art-what-is-the-most-imprisoning-thing-is-also-the-most/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The thing that is believed is a reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-thing-that-is-believed-is-a-reality/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The history of the world - by which, of course, we mean Europe - is a record of intertribal lacerations, of ethnic cleansings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-history-of-the-world-by-which-of-course-we-mean-europe-is-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The English language is nobody's special property. 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