Paul Beatty

In 2016, Paul Beatty became the first American to win the Booker prize with his fourth novel, The Sellout. From his Q&A with Kate Kellaway at the Guardian:

When you started The Sellout, to what extent did you know where you were going with it?

I started with the idea of rendering segregation in a contemporary context. I was asking myself: how do you segregate something without having any power? I was intrigued to try to figure it out. I have a pretty good sense of direction, although I don’t know how I’m going to get there. But the real seed for the book was the character of Hominy [former child actor and latter-day, self-appointed slave]. I tend to like underappreciated characters: you think you see one thing, you might be seeing something else.

I was affected by what you said when you received the Booker prize – you were visibly moved yourself – about writing having given you a life…

I am fortunate in having found something I enjoy, even though I hate doing it too. Writing is a struggle, full of weird contradictions.

As a satirist, do you think there is anything that ought to be satire-proof?

No… but...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue