India, May 30 -- You move between philosophy, politics, and public writing. How do you describe what you do to readers encountering your work for the first time?

In a word, dancing. When you move in between these worlds, the only way you can do so is by pirouetting, by making sure you take the audience with you, which is very much the way we dance in the Americas.

I've never liked being pigeonholed, so perhaps that's why I move between different registers. Right now, for the first time, I'm beginning to work on a novel. I've written poetry before, but the novel is something I've always felt a little fearful about. It's a very different thing to take on.

If you're a writer, there is no reason why you should remain in only one form.

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