Interviews with Alexs Pate

“Defining oneself is, perhaps, the hardest thing to do in life. In fact, that is, in a way, what life is all about. But on some level, I feel that my work provides a lot of information about who I am. If you read my novels, essays, poems, etc., you will discover someone who is passionate about the art of storytelling. Someone who believes that art should strive to save lives, liberate people, challenge stereotypes and so forth.

Reflected in my writing you will, I hope, see someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time interrogating myself, my values and behaviors as well as those of the people around me–and who continues to learn what it means to be African American and male. You would see that I am currently fixated on the idea of “home” and on the concepts of “guilt” and “innocence” (particularly as it relates to black men). My journey has been circuitous to be sure.”

—Alexs D. Pate as interviewed by Lauretta Pierce for The Literary World