New York and Jamaican raised  action writer and essayist THOMAS GLAVE has earned the reputation as one of the most innovative, gifted and important writers to emerge on the literary scene today. Winner of several awards, Glave is the author of the acclaimed books Whose Song? and Other Stories, Words To Our Now: Imagination and Dissent, and editor of the forthcoming anthology Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles. Glave is a founding member of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (JFLAG). He teaches at the State University of New York, Binghamton.



 

 

When did it become clear that you were going to pursue writing? Did you set a course for yourself? I’ve wanted to write ever since I was a child, but I knew for certain in my early twenties that I would do the work to become a writer. It was then that I determined to read even more books than all I’d read before – very important work for a writer.
The idea of the writer’s mission, to be a witness, to be a messenger, was that part of your intention as a writer? Not necessarily. At first, I really wanted to write the stories that I wanted to read, that I didn’t feel existed anywhere. I don’t necessarily have a ‘message’ to give anyone. My mission is really to become the best possible writer I can become.
What was the first thing you wanted to write about? I honestly don’t remember. . .it’s been a long time. . .
Was there one book that made a particularly strong impression when you were young? I loved the ‘magical’ worlds of the children’s books I read. They opened up my imagination. It’s sad how so many adults lose that sense of magic. I was especially in love with (and still love) Alice in Wonderland and its companion Through the Looking- Glass. As a child I read those books over and over again.
What are the books that have inspired you the most as an adult? So many of them...I can’t really say which books, but I can say which authors have been extremely important to me for a very long time: Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez, and Nadine Gordimer. I can’t really imagine life without them.
When you began to write about homophobia in Jamaica, there must have been people who said, “This is hopeless. It’s not going to make a difference. There’s nothing you can do that will ever change anything.” How did you cope with that? No one ever said that to me. And I wouldn’t have listened anyway. I pretty much always believed in myself, even when I was terrified of what would happen next.
Were there times when you were subjected at the least to fierce criticism or feared for your life, challenging race, sexuality and gender so publicly as you do? If so, how do you deal with that? Sure, there have been times like that, but we have to do the work we believe in – I think of it as work of the soul. Whenever I was in a situation that threatened violence, I didn’t like the idea of possibly being killed for who I was and what I did, but I always felt that I’d rather die doing what I believed in than live in fear. What kind of life would that be.
A lot of teenagers equate success with money. What does success mean to you? Doing the best possible work I can do as a writer.
What are three books every young person should read before graduating from high school? I can’t make that recommendation – everyone comes from different places, different cultures. But young people should de. nitely read – it’s a crucial skill, opens the mind, and gives you the entire world.
Is there any one piece of advice, poem, verse or scripture that you’ve used to sustain you through challenges or adversities or dificulties? Perhaps Audre Lorde’s quote: “Your silence will not protect you.”
What do you see as your next challenge? Everything! The next few books I have to write.
Is there anything you would like to do that you haven’t done yet? Yes: write the books I haven’t yet written, read the books I haven’t yet read, and travel to the places I’ve not yet seen.
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