Colson Whitehead / Renewal

From July 8 cover story for TIME

“As we talked, I noticed markings on one of the moldings. He later tells me they are dated height measurements of the children of the home’s previous owners. It strikes me that Whitehead didn’t erase them but rather has added an entry for his son. That small decision might explain some of his writing practice, the act of taking old forms or subjects and filtering them through his imagination, of holding the confidence that one needn’t try to erase what’s come before to make something new.”

This is apropos to what makes renewal such a wonderful thing.

Coulson’s thoughts on the art of storytelling are sublime:

“A piece of art really works when you see yourself in the main characters and you see a glimpse of yourself in the villains. You see yourself in the minor and major characters where, but for a quirk of fate, you could be in there with them [that could be growing up as an African American male in America]”