“Probably my sophomore year or so, I developed a mean streak. I never really allow myself to enjoy any accolade or rest on my laurels, so to speak….I would like to get to a place where I understand what satisfaction feels like, where I think, okay, I’ve done enough for today, for this week, for this life, but….I’m working on lowering the bar and being comfortable with mediocrity.” “The more successful I get, the less successful I feel…because I keep moving the bar for myself…. One of the reasons I think I work so hard is just thinking, okay, am I finally good enough? Am I finally doing enough to earn my keep in this world?” She struggles to feel successful: “Like any good self-loathing writer, all I want is approval.
Please forgive my Very Professional™ “!!!” on this photo I had to share my enthusiasm on Instagram stories and then forgot to take more pictures because this interview was so good. Ellipses represent omissions where quotes have been condensed.) (*Please not that these quotes have been lightly edited to remove verbal fillers.
This discussion was, as would be expected, full of fantastic Roxane Gay quotes on everything from her teenage mean streak to her professional insecurities to what she’s watching on cable these days.
She spoke with podcast host Debbie Millman for a live taping of her show Design Matters, in which Millman interviews artistic people about the design of their lives and careers. Gay’s writing has spanned genres and forms you may know her for her novel ( An Untamed State), her essay collection ( Bad Feminist), her memoir ( Hunger), her short stories ( Ayiti and Difficult Women), her essay anthology on rape culture ( Not That Bad), her Black Panther comic ( Black Panther: World of Wakanda), and/or her incredible clapbacks on Twitter. Roxane Gay was introduced as an author, professor, and “Twitter gangster” at the third annual On Air Fest in Brooklyn.