Toni Morrison in Strasbourg
A book signing event in May 2009
A Mercy, May 2008 - French translation Un don, avril 2009
The film 'Beloved'
800,000 copies of Beloved were sold out after the film. I love stories…really good books make bad stories...
The background is all theirs, not mine.
How do you write?
I always begin with a question, an enquiry, what the conversations are….flourish under their circumstances…never let it touch the future.
Your characters
Sometimes they speak…we have to be accessible to them…they are completely free.
The structure
I have all of the power when I write…
The structure is part of the inquiry…the ending is the point. I don’t always know how to get there…The architecture, the structure informs the strategy.... constantly to tell it was done in one day.
The rythm
I only write when it’s clearer….when the plot’s clear then I write..I go over and refine them...
So in a way, I write …in the present tense. There’s one instance that I do use the past.
Do you need silence, isolation or music when you write?
I don’t listen to music, I don’t need that. I began to write when my children were young, so there was no silence. I didn’t have the luxury...
I was looking for a blessing from God but had mercy given by a human being...
The secondary characters
They never shut up….I associate with secondary characters.
I did 2 years of research before I started to write the book...
Maryland: Catholic and Virginia: British, Church of England...There were religious fights.
The male character (with no name)
The only one in the whole world with native American words, native American language. The unique thing in the world.
I didn’t know his name, he was the ultimate danger, he’s dangerous to the whole country. No one controls him…a scary position in the United States.....Sarah just watches…..
When they see he can get money, they call him Mister and they begin to forgive him for being free...He’s the explosive, the danger....
Do you teach your books/literature to your students?
I never teach my books to my students.
A model writer?
I don’t have a model :…I write in such a way ...that if a piece of paper ...falls from the window and someone picks it, they will say, ah, this is Toni Morrison!
Kofi Adu Manyah