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Quote by Jesmyn Ward

“I have never written a novel that volleys back and forth between a couple of different first person perspectives. It's definitely a challenge because I had to think about who knows what, when do they know it, when are they sharing what they know or what they think they know, how the reader's perspective affects things. Telling the story in that way is challenging. It does require a lot of revision.”

Quote by Jesmyn Ward

Author

Jesmyn Ward is an American novelist known for her profound portrayals of life in the American South. Her works delve into complex themes such as race, class, and social justice, earning her widespread acclaim. more

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“I was thinking about the difference in voice between the different characters. Each voice has to be unique. Hypothetically you should be able to read each chapter without the heading that tells you who is telling the story.”

Thinking Different Character Unique

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and write a character who practiced that spiritual tradition who was not evil and intent on creating zombies or causing pain through voodoo dolls or whatever.”

Thinking Writing Long Character Pain Spiritual Culture Evil Tradition Zombie Popular Culture Voodoo

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“My understanding of voodoo is that it was important to the people who practiced it because it helped them survive. There are practical ways it enabled survival. It used herbal medicine to heal, to aid in childbirth. It was a spiritual system. It made room for hope and for magic and for possibility. For people who struggle and fight to survive and who fight to live, those are really important things.”

People Important Spiritual Fighting Understanding Struggle Magic Possibility Survival Aids Heal Childbirth Voodoo

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African diaspora, people of this region, and throughout the south.”

People Writing Important Black Survival Tradition Black People Voodoo

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I feel like so much of what happened in the Delta over the decades since slavery was abolished seems much closer in the Delta, and maybe that's because sharecropping was a fairly recent phenomena. I feel like the past is closer and it bears even more heavily on the present there than it does in the rest of the state.”

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Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I'm responsible for what people see and what they hear.”

People Responsible

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“I consider myself a progressive, so my answer would be that we need to be progressive. For some reason the people in power in Mississippi still seem to be invested in these very American myths."The individual is alone." "We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps." "We create success for ourselves, and if we work hard enough then we will succeed and have success beyond our wildest dreams." I think that we need to do away with that kind of thinking and be more aware of history and how the history of this place bears in the present and how it affects people.”

People Thinking Kind Reason Enough Dream Individual Hard Work Succeed Myth Progressive

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I think that we need to be more aware of how we are all interconnected, and how we actually need to invest in safety nets and in education, and that we need to come to the realization that health care is a human right and try to provide that for people.”

People Thinking Trying Care Safety Realization Health Care Safety Net

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I think that we're just too invested in that myth that we are not connected, and are all potential millionaires if only we put in the work. I think that's destructive and ignores history and is one of the reasons we as a state are consistently at the bottom of all the lists because we handicap ourselves.”

Thinking Reason Bottom Myth Consistently Millionaire

Author:Jesmyn Ward

“I travel a lot. Japanese culture is very ancient and very strong. That's why most people who commission work from Japanese architects expect them to create works that have an element of exoticism, the kind typical of Japanese culture. I don't do that.”

People Kind Culture Strong Ancient Architect Very Strong

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