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But this years AWP honoree, Colson Whitehead, chose to focus instead on chicken.
No one dozed during this speech and almost no one ducked out early.
The chicken shtick may not have been for everyone, but it sure as hell wasnt dry.
Theres only two kinds of food: food you like, and food you dont like.
Are we really still talking about all this crap?
(Less and less, but its still fair to ask.)
Theres only two kinds of books, shit you like, and shit you dont like.
Dont worry about reading other peoples great works.
At one point Whitehead referenced W.G.
You guys havent readRings of Saturn?
he said in mock-reproach.
But seriously: Dont let anybody make you feel dumb because you havent read something.
you’ve got the option to still lead a long and fulfilling life.
Curate your own personal library of classics.
Youll get to the required reading in good time when youre ready for it.
Twenty pages into Morrison, he felt paralyzed and defeated.
How could he ever top this?
Of course, he couldnt.
But instead of trying to outshine the greats, Whitehead accepted that he wasnt better just different.
Read and read to find out what kind of writer you want to be.
Write and write to find out what kind of writer you are.
Write what you dont know.
A rash of mutedNew Yorkerstories about suburban adultery.
(Note: This opinion is mine, not his.)
(Something like, say, a novel about zombies in New York, a.k.a WhiteheadsZone One.)
A writing workshop like any other room with people in it is a laboratory of failure.
Expect failure on the way to success.
