Elizabeth Acevedo quotes
I think I have a sense of how things need to sound, how to pull an audience in with tone, timing, and pacing. That affects a lot of my writing, too, being hyper aware of how an audience might read something. I want what's happening on the page to mimic what my body would do on stage. A lot of that came out in the audiobook. I think I would have struggled to record the audiobook without having stage experience because it's a lot of work to maintain that kind of performance voice.
Elizabeth Acevedo
I often wish I was asked more about the craft of the verse. I spent so many agonizing hours ensuring every line break was precise, every word and repetition chosen with care-because it was important to me to maintain the integrity of the lyric while also advancing the narrative. It's that tightrope walk I'm studying in other people's work and am continuously looking to understand further.
Elizabeth Acevedo
I didn't personally have anyone in my family who passed on that crash, but I remember how it ruptured our understanding of each other at that moment-like who was on that flight (AA587 in 2001), what happened, is it terrorism? What does it mean when you lose almost 300 lives in two and a half minutes?
Elizabeth Acevedo
I think so often how people, particularly poets, begin first writing out of heartbreak, out of loss. Like I think most people's early poems are because they are so emotional over something and this is the only form that feels safe, I can get it out on paper, at least that is how I remember writing and when I often encounter a young poet it is because of a thing that they are almost trying to exercise out of themselves and writing is the way to turn... and that does feel like creating from crisis.
Elizabeth Acevedo
I don't imagine I'll ever write a book for young people that doesn't include an intergenerational theme - for me that was such a big part of growing up. And I think literature that is contemplating the family, you need the parents coming in and they can't be perfect. They can't, you know, save the day on their own.
Elizabeth Acevedo
I was born and raised in this intersection between Harlem and Columbia University. Very much what felt like in-between worlds. But in a very Dominican immigrant Black community. My journey begins with my listening to my parents tell me stories, and with listening to bolero music and listening to hip hop. I wanted to write music long before I ever considered myself a poet or a writer...
Elizabeth Acevedo
What does it mean to say, "Alright, I can be Black and not be Black American and still be in solidarity with Black Americans.” Recognize perhaps we have similarities, but also, like in supporting you, you might have differences. You might have things that you have going on because you generationally lived in this country that I may not understand. So I can stand here and be like, "I am Black, too, but I will be quiet because right now, this is a different beat. I can learn here.”.
Elizabeth Acevedo
