I was a little girl with a pot belly and Afro puffs, hyperactive and overdramatic, and I found the theater and I found my home.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes how self-expression through theater provided a sense of belonging and identity during childhood.
Audra McDonald reflects on her childhood experiences, highlighting how her exuberant personality and unique appearance were complemented by her passion for theater. This art form became a refuge for her, allowing her to express herself and feel at home in her own skin, suggesting the transformative power of creativity and the arts in shaping one's identity.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of arts education in schools.
I just wanted to go to New York and be on Broadway, but then I was accepted by Juilliard, where they trained me in classical voice. It was great in the end, but at the time, I thought, 'What am I doing here? This is not my path.' But it was absolutely my path and where I was meant to be.
There are some subjects that can only be tackled in fiction.
One of the convenient things about literature is that, despite copyrights [...] a book belongs to the reader as well as to the writer.
As far as I can recall, the initial shiver of inspiration [for Lolita] was somehow prompted by a newspaper story about an ape in the Jardin des Plantes, who, after months of coaxing by a scientist, produced the first drawing ever charcoaled by an animal: this sketch showed the bars of the poor creature's cage.
It is not enough to photograph the obviously picturesque.
As far as I'm concerned, freedom is the most important thing to creativity. You should feel free to write in whatever way, whatever language, feels comfortable to you.
Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.
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