One of America’s top writers gave some tips and advice to San Quentin’s Creative Writing Class recently.
The speaker was Junot Díaz, author of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
A writer lives and dies by the quality of his details, Diaz said during his San Quentin appearance on June 24.
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he was raised on the East Coast and became recognized for his gritty story-telling of migrants. His story deals with the cruel abuses that humanity inflicts on others, while intertwining it with acts of heroism and love, leaving the readers with what can be described as a bittersweet ending.
He described the 11 years it took him to write his Oscar Wao novel as a journey of frustration, doubt and despair that walked side by side with a burning desire to tell a story with relevance to inequalities of humanity.
“Life…adheres to no formula,” he said, explaining his purpose of writing of callous and cruel issues that prisoners understand.
Dressed all in black, Diaz, 42, bounced his leg as he spoke, answering questions from the group of incarcerated writers, Using the collection of short stories and two novels that has won critical acclaim, he told the group, “Be opinionated,” as he pointed to why he thought his writing was praised..
