Dorothy Allison quotes

Dorothy Allison is an American writer and activist, recognized for her powerful novels exploring class, sexuality, and family. Her acclaimed works, such as "Bastard Out of Carolina," draw from personal experience and tackle difficult social issues. She has received numerous awards and is celebrated for her voice in contemporary Southern literature. Here are 24 of her quotes:

Class, race, sexuality, gender and all other categories by which we categorize and dismiss each other need to be excavated from the inside. (Dorothy Allison)
Change, when it comes, cracks everything open. View quote
Dorothy Allison
It's important to set challenges that you're not sure you're equal to. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Two or three things I know for sure, and one is that I'd rather go naked than wear the coat the world has made for me. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I was born in 1949, and by the time I was 10, I figured out that my hope chest was not aimed in the same direction everybody else's was. And that life was going to be very, very complicated. And that I could either be provocative and declamatory, or shy, retiring and scared. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Writing is the only way I know to demand justice from an uncaring universe. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Fiction is a piece of truth that turns lies to meaning. View quote
Dorothy Allison
One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I'll tell you the secret. When you begin with a character, you want to begin by creating a villain. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Teenagers are free verse walking around on two legs. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Gravy is the simplest, tastiest, most memory-laden dish I know how to make: a little flour, salt and pepper, crispy bits of whatever meat anchored the meal, a couple of cups of water or milk and slow stirring to break up lumps. (Dorothy Allison)
I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement. It gave me a vision that I could do something different, and it gave me an understanding that I wasn't a monster, or sport, or a betrayer of my family. View quote
Dorothy Allison
When I was growing up, I always read horror books, while my sister read romance novels. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I have a terrible memory. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I tell my students you have an absolute right to write about people you know and love. You do. But the kicker is you have a responsibility to make the characters large enough that you will not have sinned against them. View quote
Dorothy Allison
And while it is true that I got the best woman in the world, I don't think love saves you. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I can't write what I don't believe in. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I think it's wonderful that people in pickup trucks are buying two flats of dog food and a copy of 'Bastard.' I want my view of the world to be right up there next to gallon boxes of Tide. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I do not write about nice people. I am not nice people. Neither is anyone I have ever cared deeply about. View quote
Dorothy Allison
It's fun to tease people about where fiction and life intersect. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement. (Dorothy Allison)
The bottom line is I'm writing to save the dead. I'm writing to save the people I have lost, some of whose bodies are still walking around. View quote
Dorothy Allison
Every kid I meet who's a reader has got something like that, their fantasy world. And science fiction is the best, especially for girls because it's the one place where you can do the forbidden. View quote
Dorothy Allison
I'm still very blunt: If you want to be a writer, get a day job. The fact that I have actually been able to make a living at it is astonishing. View quote
Dorothy Allison

Dorothy Allison

Dorothy Allison - Image
Photo: Rodrigo Fernández, CC BY-SA 3.0
Occupation: American Writer
Born: April 11, 1949
Died: November 6, 2024
Quotes count: 24
Wikipedia: Dorothy Allison

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