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Wayétu Moore Quotes
born 1985 Liberia
Wayétu Moore (born 1985) is a Liberian-American author and social entrepreneur. Her debut novel, She Would Be King, was published by Graywolf Press in September 2018, and was named a best book of 2018 by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Entertainment Weekly & BuzzFeed.
Random Wayétu Moore quote
21 quotes
Truth is the most humanist commitment we can make
To mothers who are writers, I’d say: give yourself grace
My culture is what most inspires my choice of genre
Black women are so radically disadvantaged
Africa” is an external designation
What really stuck out to me is the obvious restraint and fear and anxiety that would come from creating characters out of people you know
I got pretty used to the erasure of African histories and the prevalence of ahistorical perspectives
The joy of contemporary literature is that you can also play around with the structure of the story you want to tell
All of my research has suggested that this narrative of the settlers going in and enslaving native groups is just not true
Magical realism is the term that’s being used to describe works by contemporary African writers that engage with supernatural beliefs and abilities
Liberia also has a history that is ritually packaged for mass consumption, and that packaging neglects nuance, and sometimes even the humanity of Liberians
White immigrants are usually accepted and embraced as American, because there’s institutional power in whiteness
I’ve learned that showing up and doing the work, even when the spark isn’t there, is essential to my creative process
I wanted my characters’ gifts to be in conversation with black motherhood
My family has been a cornerstone of my storytelling
My children are my guiding light, my safest place
Telling the story of Liberia was telling the story of pan-Africanist identity
There was the slavery that is suggested throughout these narratives. It comes from one of our previous presidents
That I noticed right away was that there was a disinterest in literature, so I began to take them books with characters that looked like them
My parents, because they are very generous, loving people, always raised us to believe that it isn’t about us — we have to find ways to give back, to contribute in a substantive way
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