Weblog: G. Winston James Talks About His Goods

The author and me at NYC reading (see flickr.com for more photos from the event.)

Talk about your relationship to the written word.

Besides the fact that I’ve often felt alone, I am also a very emotional person. Because of that, I don’t always communicate well orally. When I’m angry, for Instance, I can barely speak.

For me, the written word has always been a way for me to communicate what is going on inside. A way for me to attempt to be clear about myself, where I am, what I’m doing and how I’m feeling on my particular journey. It’s probably safe to say that writing has helped to keep me healthy mentally. It may well have helped to save my life.

Words are like magical instruments to me. They are one of the most effective ways to create art and to tell the truth. I always hope that I am doing both with my work.

When did you decide you were a “writer?”

I still don’t know that I’m “a writer.” I have long stretches during which I cannot write anything at all. I only know that, in the end, I have certain stories to tell. For me, publishing my work is an effort to add my voice to what should be a chorus of voices coming from our black LGBT communities and the larger world.

I don’t see myself as a “sophisticated” or overly complex writer. I have a strong interest in having readers be able to access my work and to feel the emotions I am trying to convey. On most days—my good days—I’m just trying to keep it real, and maybe to make even some dark things (the subjects people don’t like to talk or write about) sound a tiny bit beautiful.

Tell me about your upbringing in Jamaica.

I actually wasn’t raised in Jamaica. I was born there and moved to America with my family when I was a child. I would say, though, that I was brought up as a Jamaican, in a Jamaican household, in a town that had many, many Jamaicans.

As for the quality of my upbringing, I’d have to say first that I was (and am) blessed to have been raised by both of my parents, and to have had my siblings around me. I am the youngest of five. Though some think that the baby is the one that is doted on; my parents were not the most affectionate of people. I wasn’t comforted often when I was hurting. In many ways I was left to fend for myself and to discover pain, sorrow, joy, etc. largely on my own.

I remember clearly wanting for affection as a child, and in some ways I see what that unfulfilled need has wrought in my adult life.

When did you migrate to the US?

My parents moved to Paterson, NJ in 1971. I was 3 years old at the time. Only a few years ago, I decided to reconnect with my “motherland”. I got a Jamaican passport, and nowadays attempt to get back to the island at least once a year. Despite having spent the majority of my life here, I still think of Jamaica as “home” even if I don’t always feel terribly comfortable there.

Do you consider yourself a poet first, or simply a writer?

I consider myself to be an individual on a slightly strange journey. I have a facility with language (I believe)—both in writing and in learning new ones. I am someone who believes strongly in communication—“Save the writer, save the world.” I like to write. My MFA is in fiction, but I actually write poetry more often.

Can you let us in on your writing process?

I write when the spirit moves me. I probably shouldn’t say this since it reveals that I’m not a very “professional” writer, but I am at present incapable of forcing my muse to attention.

What happens to me is that I will be riding in a train, or driving in a car, and a first line will come to me—it could be a line of a poem or short story. Sometimes I stop what I’m doing to write down the line, but I’ve found that to be unnecessary. These lines will not leave me—even if months or years go by.

This is how my work germinates. Sometimes I get many seeds. Other periods, very few. But I’ve come to feel that I’m not in a rush. The work will come, and when it does, my promise to it is that I will try to make each piece the best it can be. I am manic about revision. Both for fear of embarrassing myself and doing the work an injustice.

My favorite short story of yours, “John,” deeply affected me. I love the scene in the bookstore. Tell me how the story came about.

Now, Steven…! Are you try’na start something?

Always.