People talk a lot about the right to tell stories. And I think we really need to shift the conversation to the responsibility that comes with writing these stories. I welcome people writing about characters from different backgrounds, but there's so much homework you have to do, and you can't be lazy about it.
I think there needs to be more effort if you're going to write from a different perspective… There are all kinds of choices you face as a writer. And I think the first step is just being aware of it. Being aware that you are writing about other people and that means you have to work at understanding them if you're going to write them.
Quoted in The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (2020)
Use the link below to visit the website of Moroccan-North American novelist, essayist and academic LAILA LALAMI:
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