Absolutturkey

You had a lot of difficulty writing Oscar Wao. How many different reiterations of Oscar Wao did you go through? How much research did you undergo to write the portions of the novel which took place in Trujillo’s reign of terror? Was this prior knowledge or on the fly research while writing Wao? If you were to recommend literature about this era, what would you suggest (besides Feast of the Goat)?

I understand you jumped straight into an MFA after completing your BA at Rutgers. How would you describe your experience at Cornell University? Was it helpful to your success, or were you successful despite your time there? How has your experience teaching fiction in an academic setting (MIT) compared to your work with mentoring the students at VONA?

You’ve mentioned in a recent Salon interview that the literary apparatus of this country still exists in the 1950s. Who are among the writers now that you believe are writing the literary apparatus that exists with a contemporary outlook? What do you suggest aspiring writers should consider to keep pushing past the lag occurring in this country’s current literary apparatus?

Edit: In case you can't tell, I've been preparing for this all morning.

Thank you for answering me. I was interested about your MFA answer because I knew Sandra Cisnero hated her time at Iowa, so I was trying to determine if an academic program really has a place when it comes to nurturing young colored writers.