When I was a graduate creative writing student, I remember being floored when I read Junot Diaz's short-story collection "Drown". His book presented the complexity of daily life through characters that were memorable in terms of reminding me of how much of the human spirit intersects with the force of hardship and conflict.
Since reading "Drown," Diaz has continued to inspire and amaze. This year, Diaz won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize award and continues to enlighten anywhere and everywhere he appears to give a reading or give an interview.
Check out this particular reading, where he talks about writing, being a writer of color, academe and the way in which the past influences much of the present.
