A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates

Author and Essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Albertine Festival in New York this week

By Prune Perromat, Cerise Maréchaud and Katya Wachtel 

"If you're going to be a successful writer... you have to be prepared for people not to care about what you're doing"

If you read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2015 essay and best-selling book, Between the World and Me, you knew you were reading something special. For many, it was the first time they understood and fully grasped that American Dream was nothing but fiction for a massive portion of the country's population. It was a view of life in America made raw and real for those who have themselves experienced life as black person in America, and for those who have not.

In an interview with Coates at Festival Albertine this past week, the author and essayist took a break from the frenzy of an event that drew crowds of New Yorkers to the salons of the Fifth Ave bookstore for a moment of introspection. He shared his thoughts on the end of the Obama era, his mentor David Carr, and about writing when nobody's reading.