Gary Devore
ORP: What inspired you to begin writing or creating? Has that source of inspiration changed throughout your life?
Gary Devore: Growing up gay in the 80's and 90's meant I never had a voice. Fiction was one place I could control the narrative in a hostile world. Now, most of my stories involve someone protecting the kind of person I was then from a hostile world.
ORP: What does success as a writer or artist mean to you?
GD: Touching the soul of at least one person with prose. Kurt Vonnegut used to describe writing as mind-melding between strangers using only words and imagination. I'd like to do that and help another person's life experience feel seen.
ORP: What books have you read many times?
GD: "The Memoirs of Hadrian" by Marguerite Yourcenar (profound, life-altering insights on every page), "Lincoln in the Bardo" by George Saunders (a masterpiece of poly-vocal, humanist compassion), and "Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco (intelligent and funny historical fiction that makes you feel smarter for having read it).
ORP: What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing or creating? What advice would you give to another writer or artist?
GD: Find your voice. Pay attention to your choices of vocabulary and sentence structure as well as plot and character. Pick a theme and make it clear so you say what you want to say.
ORP: What do you hope readers (or your audience) will take away from your creative work?
GD: We (queer people, minorities, the dis-empowered) have always been here. We will always be here. We resist your drive to eradicate us.
