"Nadine Gordimer writes about black people with such astounding sensibilities and sensitivity-not patronizing, not romantic, just real. And Eudora Welty does the same thing. Lillian Hellman has done it. Now, we might categorize these women as geniuses of a certain sort, but if they can write about it, it means that it is possible. They didn't say, "Oh, my God, I can't write about black people"; it didn't stop them. There are white people who do respond that way though, assuming there's some huge barrier. But if you can relate to Beowolf and Jesus Christ when you read about them, it shouldn't be so difficult to relate to black literature."
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Memoirists from the United StatesJews from the United StatesScreenwriters from the United StatesWomen academics from the United StatesPlaywrights from the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
Interview (1980) in Conversations with Toni Morrison edited by Danille K. Taylor-Guthrie (1994)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lillian_Hellman
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Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (20 June 1905 – 30 June 1984) was an American playwright.
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