TOYA WOLFE
The award-winning Chicago author talks about the perseverance it took to get her debut, Last Summer on State Street, into shape, and why drawing on things that were personal and specific allowed her to develop her unique voice
i've been writing since I was about
been writing since I was about ten years old. I recall entering and winning an essay competition around that age, and reading the essay in front of my entire school! The
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positive reaction of the crowd fuelled in me a desire to keep writing. Later, I’d abandon writing for other artistic disciplines like drawing and musical instruments, but in college, I would be reunited with creative writing. That’s where I began to study it, see it as a craft, and acknowledge my talent in that area; mainly because English Literature and Creative Writing were the only classes where I received high grades. My advisor and I realized there was some talent there!