Janet Dalton asked Matthew Clark Davison:

Do you believe as Pat Conroy did ,that you should write what you know?

Matthew Clark Davison Thanks for the question! In my opinion, "shoulds" and art don't mix. I think Conroy encouraged his students to start with what's most urgent, the thing they care most about. Often, that's close to home and Conroy had much success mining the territory of his lived experience. I'd be shocked if he meant that to mean that we shouldn't write to discover or uncover or reveal things about subjects or people we might have to learn more about to do so convincingly. No fiction writer I know wants to cause harm--so there's wisdom, too, in avoiding superficial portrayals of others--doubly so if the portrayals reinforce damaging tropes to historically marginalized communities. I hadn't known much about Portland before I started writing Doubting Thomas, and I've never been a grade school teacher, nor have I had to endure what Thomas does at the beginning of the novel. He and I are so different from one another--but I know other things--that are revealed in his inner life. So, yes! And: no! Depends on the context! (which is my answer to almost everything having to do with art).

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