Jill McCorkle

North Carolina · born or raisedBorn 1958

American writer

Born in Lumberton
Born in Robeson County
Studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Worked at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Worked at Duke University
Worked at North Carolina State University

Quotations with a citation

Well I have no problem being called a Southern writer because clearly as soon as I open my mouth there’s the proof. And the South is very much my writing home as well.

[M]y grandmother was very fortunate that she went through the ninth grade; my grandfather only completed the third. So they could tell stories they never would have been able to write. There was a lot of power in the spoken word, and it was revered as such, I think.

You can’t get from point A to point B easily, you’ve got to wander off to the side and tell this story.

I start with something that’s making me laugh, and yet I’m enough of a realist that I never believe it’s that simple; then I start looking for what’s under the funny.

Sometimes the room of my own is the car parked in the grocery store parking lot, or wherever I can get it.

I believe there is always humor to be found. Even within the most hideous situations, people continue to say and do quirky things.