C.E. Morgan – Quotes

Great literature rattles the

Great literature rattles the mind and makes the body sing. It’s an unmistakable, electric feeling, and too rare. That is what I want. C.E. Morgan

I stared at the Ohio River every day as a child, a thing that for me is almost more symbol than river. The formation of personality is inextricable from place. It strikes me as an interesting example of dependent co-arising; land shapes the organism, which then reshapes – literally and figuratively – the land. This … Read more

Anyone who lives with

Anyone who lives with poor health or chronic pain, or who has endured poverty – real poverty – knows what it is to live with lack and a resulting fear so incessant that it becomes thoroughly normalized, invisible in its ubiquity. If you’re lucky enough to have that fear begin to ease, it’s an odd … Read more

Ultimately, I don’t know

Ultimately, I don’t know if love is an organizing principle we choose or if it’s innate. I’m not sure the distinction matters to me much anymore; I just care about how we can reduce unnecessary suffering. I think that means learning to love in both the micro and the macro; engaging in ethical action at … Read more

I was taught as

I was taught as a young person that the far political right and the far political left aren’t located on a spectrum but on a circle, where they inevitably meet in their extremity. C.E. Morgan

I have both experienced

I have both experienced and witnessed a great deal of suffering in my life, and that has informed my art. I’m here today, because I’m a fighter. I didn’t survive my life to ask permission to write my books. C.E. Morgan

I think the primary

I think the primary gift of the animal is offered to writer and non-writer alike; they teach us about love, or attunement, which is love in action. A lot of people have closer relationships with animals than they do with other humans, because real intimacy requires both parties to consistently lean in, and animals are … Read more

I don’t believe love

I don’t believe love is real love if it remains cloistered within the confines of an intimate relationship; it should transcend the private sphere. As an artist that means training an eye on the suffering in the world, then acting on behalf of others. C.E. Morgan

Love is not a

Love is not a feeling, but an action. C.E. Morgan

Ultimately, I want a

Ultimately, I want a peak experience in reading, and that is sometimes difficult to find in contemporary fiction. I’m not interested in books that are just clever and well executed; polish doesn’t impress me, and I don’t care about a merely capable sentence. Life is short; I want a confrontation with high art. I want … Read more