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Become The Writer You Want To Be

“Writing is an act of courage.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates

“I always consider the entire [writing] process about failure, and I think that’s the reason why more people don’t write.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s latest book, Between the World and Me, is a “searing meditation on what it means to be black in America today.”  The New York Times Review

Upon receiving the 2015 MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award Winners, Coates said, “When I first got the call from the MacArthur foundation I was ecstatic. . . if anybody even reads what I’m doing, that’s a great day.”

Between the World and Me is a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for nonfiction.

Between the World and Me is in the form of a letter to Ta-Nehisi’s 14-year-old son. He speaks of the dangers of living in a country where unarmed black men and boys are dying at the hands of police officers.

His evocative 2008 memoir, The Beautiful Struggle, is a “. . . compelling a portrait of a father-son relationship . . . and a showcase for his emotional reach as a writer and his both lyric and gritty prose.” – The New York Times Review

Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi’s chatty and thoughtful video drew me in. He said the key to writing is perseverance. He talks about learning to be a writer and that being stressed led to writing that had much more power. “Repeated practice to become the writer you want to be. Revise over and over until [your writing] goes from really bad to okay to acceptable.

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes from the heart. My favorite kind of writing.

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2 comments

  1. karen53

    I’ve read nothing but rave reviews about Ta-Nehisi Coates and his exquisite writing. I’ll have to add “Between the World and Me” to my wish list of new books. Thanks, Marlene!

    1. mcullen Post author

      Yes, Karen. I am so impressed with him.

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