OMG YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE KEITH THANK YOU

I find it sad and I think a lot of it is grounded in ignorance.

Whenever you're not a white man, people are going to try to pigeonhole you and your writing. I used to spend a lot of time stressing about being pigeonholed but now I write what I want to write when I want to write it. If people want to pigeonhole me that speaks more to their shortcomings than mine.

You are welcome. Those friends... are just misguided. May they see the light.

I sort of journal in that I blog and have had an online journal for gosh, like 18 years or so, in one form or another. I don't have a secret journal with a tiny gold lock that I hide under my pillow though.

The most important thing to realize is that while we are all different, we also have a great deal in common. When I begin to write difference, I start with what we generally have in common (desire, we want things so very much), and then write outward toward the ways we are different.

It depends on where you play the word!

HI LINDY! YES WE CAN HANG OUT SOMEDAY. I DON'T MIND ALL CAPS SO LONG AS I AM ON MY LAPTOP AND I CAN USE ALLCAPS BECAUSE I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO ALL CAPS ON MY IPHONE THOUGH I FEEL LIKE BECAUSE THE IPHONE IS MAGIC THAT MUST BE A THING THAT IS POSSIBLE.

Hi Kate. I gave away the first 500 or so of the shirts. Now I am doing them on tee-spring. The first campaign just ended but I will do it again if people are interested. I just thought it would make a cool t-shirt and, of course, an easy way to get the name of the book out there.

Sometimes, stepping away from your life is the only way to move forward with your life. That was certainly the case for me though I didn't really know it at the time. Being able to step away and find a place to be alone or with loved ones away from it all is increasingly important as we become more ever-connected.

I pretend no one is reading what I write. It's a massive delusion but it's the only way I can be so honest and real. When I think about it too much, I panic. It makes me feel like I have no skin but that's also where I bring out my best writing. IT's hard.

ALL OF THEM. Heh. I love her herbed scrambled eggs, and all her meatless pasta dishes.

In terms of personal reading, students can think about likability but that has nothing to do with the literary merits of the book. When these discussions come up in my classroom, I always try to reframe them around craft or other literary analysis.

You flatter me! In terms of exposing those young women to the necessity of feminism, I mean, CURRENT EVENTS! Hobby Lobby! It's important not to approach these women like you're bringing propaganda. Instead, show them what they might be taking for granted and how their lives might be improved if equality were actually…

Making friends is hard! The first thing I'd suggest is approaching friendships with women without focusing too intently on the fact that you're befriending women. Focus on the people the women are and what you might have in common, the interesting ways you are different, and see what you can do with all that.

I will always be a part of The Rumpus. That site gave my words a beautiful home and I was the essays editor for several years I recently had to step down as essays editor because there are only so many hours in the day but my successor, Mary-Kim Arnold, will carry the work forward brilliantly. I am still involved in…

This dilemma is one I struggle with quite a lot and I rationalize it by consuming the culture I want to consume while ALSO rigorously looking at that culture and understanding where it comes from and how, it is problematic, how it could be better, and what we can do to demand better from the producers of what we…

I am intrigued by radical feminism and the intensity of that commitment. They are all in and I have to respect that. I do think, however, that we have to differentiate between radical feminism and intolerant feminism. When radical feminism becomes intolerant, I have no patience for it.

I can't really answer that question because I'm not transgender. Who am I to tell trans women that they should identify as feminist when feminism has, historically, treated them so shoddily? I absolutely recognize why trans women, women of color, working class women would all say, "fuck it," to feminism and they would…

Nice.