Ten Questions

“I was writing this hybrid lyric thing that was hard to fall into a rhythm with at first.” —Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones, author of The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History

“I was stretching to become a different kind of writer, and that took time.” —Justin Torres, author of Blackouts

“Celebrate the small victories!” —Isle McElroy, author of People Collide

“Just keep listening to the work, one poem at a time.” —Heather Lanier, author of Psalms of Unknowing

“I think that’s so much of the pleasure of writing for me, the opportunity to be fearless on the page.” —Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

“Read more than you write.” —Robyn Schiff, author of Information Desk: An Epic

“One of the pleasures of writing short stories for me is the surprise of an ending.” —Jamel Brinkley, author of Witness

“I’m always trying to leave room in my writing for surprise.” —Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Small Worlds

“I didn’t set out to write exactly this book.” —Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, author of Negative Money

“I believe that writing is just a form of dreaming.” —Nathan Go, author of Forgiving Imelda Marcos

“I am constantly questioning, resisting, studying, accepting, and wondering—all of which I believe to be the hallmarks of the writer’s life.” —Airea D. Matthews, author of Bread and Circus

“It’s always surprising when the book clicks into being an actual book—which I find happens at the very last minute.” —Emma Cline, author of The Guest