Tuesday, June 14, 2022

TIPS FROM WRITERS WHO WRITE QUEER: N.K. JEMISIN ON THE ARTIST'S MISSION

Novelist N.K. Jemisin's books are noteworthy for many things: sprawling reads; compelling storylines; and tremendous queer characters of color. (Don't get me wrong, she writes good straight characters, too. But her series feature many interesting queer characters and storylines.) 

A while ago I came across this quote from Jemisin about the job of a writer. It's very much the kind of thing to hang above your writing space as a reminder of what we're doing.

“My job is to help the world...That is what an artist's job is—to the degree that we can. That is nothing more than holding up a mirror and saying, ‘You're beautiful, baby.’ Or holding up a mirror and saying, ‘Look at the shit that you're doing to yourself. Maybe you should stop.’ It is an artist's job to speak truth to power. That is a maxim that I've always believed in.