SOURCE: Naylor, Gloria, and Angels Carabi. “Interview with Gloria Naylor.” Belles Lettres 7, no. 3 (spring 1992): 36–42.

In the following interview, Naylor talks about her background, the role of community in her work, and her relationship to her characters.

[Carabi:] Toni Morrison told me that, despite growing up in the North, she was surrounded by grandmothers and aunts who told stories from the South. Did you have a similar experience?

[Naylor:] Exactly. I listened to stories about fishing and going to the woods and picking berries. I heard about working in the cotton fields and about the different characters who were in Robinsonville: the women who worked with roots and herbs, the guy who ran the church, and the man who was always drunk. A whole microcosm lived in that little hamlet. I heard all the stories because I was a quiet, shy child. I was the kid in the corner...