Author

When I wake up in the morning, I need the writing to go to. I begin there. And that's not an accident, I mean, that habit of getting up in the morning and going to my writing first thing.

From John Edgar Wideman

Writing 'Hoop Roots' was a substitute or a surrogate activity. I can't play anymore - my body won't cooperate - so in the writing of the book, I was looking to tell a good story about my life and about basketball, but I was also looking to entertain myself the way that I entertain myself when I play.

From John Edgar Wideman

I wish I had time to listen to music more.

From John Edgar Wideman

I write what I want to write, and then, when it's finished, I use my judgment to see whether or not I think it's intrusive. If it is problematic, then I ask those involved. I won't necessarily do what they say. But I do consult. I haven't had too many problems. Nobody's really gotten angry at me. Nobody, as far as I know, has felt betrayed.

From John Edgar Wideman

I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.

From John Edgar Wideman

For African-American people, I am in the business of inventing a reality that gives a different perspective - on history, on crime, on art, on love.

From John Edgar Wideman

Writers transform: they throw a hand grenade into the notion of reality that people carry around in their heads. That's very dangerous, very destructive, but not to do it means you are satisfied with the status quo - and that's a kind of danger as well, because a kind of violence is already being perpetuated.

From John Edgar Wideman

Real change is always violent, but it may hurt a lot less than what's in place before the violence occurs.

From John Edgar Wideman

All my life, I've been very aware of my body. I have always used it as a gauge of things. When I look at a person, and I see their body, that's the beginning of knowledge about them. Furthermore, I respect the body.

From John Edgar Wideman

I have written about the women around me. My ancestors, my relatives, lovers. It was a way of trying to make it all make sense.

From John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman

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