Nora K. Jemisin Quotes

Knowing about authors' beliefs helps you understand how those beliefs influence their writing, and things you thought meant one thing, once you've got enough information about that writer, you suddenly realize mean an entirely different thing. That makes a difference.

All people who grew up with science fiction and fantasy and horror went through the whole acculturation process of the genre. We were all told to read the golden age writers. We were all told Heinlein and Asimov and all these straight, white males, although some of them were Jewish.

Within the sphere of steampunk, there seems to be a rapidly growing subsphere of gadgetless 'neo-Victorian' novels, most of which attempt to recapture the romance of the era without all the sociopolitical ugliness.

In the 'Dreamblood' books, I'm focusing more on what I like about epic fantasy: the layering and depth of tension; the chance to really delve into the minutia of an alternate society and its politics; a large cast of characters to love and hate.

I don't really understand why so many fantasy writers choose to focus on worlds that just seem strangely denuded. But to them, I guess it doesn't seem strange. And I guess that's their privilege. It isn't mine.

I was raised to be very wary of the police. I was raised to stay away from them unless you absolutely have to. Because they're dangerous.

This is magic we're talking about. It's supposed to go places science can't, defy logic, wink at technology, fill us all with the sensawunda that comes of gazing upon a fictional world and seeing something truly different from our own.

With epic fantasy, there is a tendency for it to be quintessentially conservative in that its job is to restore what is perceived to be out of whack.

I read a lot of history for fun.

Any writer kind of who knows what they're doing goes forth and grabs a copy of an issue of something that they want to be published in, or they skim it online. They read what that market has been doing. They see a particular flavor of fiction.

If you can imagine something, it will be.

Quotes of the Hour

It's important that people come see our show, because we are performers. We wanted people to see that.

My parents wouldn't have sent me out into the world with wool over my eyes. You have to be aware, or you'll be swallowed.

There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.

Everybody in my family cooks, so growing up and being around it… if I was going to spend time with everybody, it was helping them in the kitchen.

You have to believe in yourself, challenge yourself, and push yourself until the very end; that's the only way you'll succeed.

Nora K. Jemisin Quotes

More Related Quotes

Quotes of the Hour

Popular Topics