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Why Junot Diaz urges you to read more promiscuously

Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz on pushing for real diversity in the largely-white worlds of Western academia and literature. Plus, advice for readers.
(Nina Subin)

In a rich and wide-ranging interview, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Junot Diaz joins Shad to discuss his ongoing push for real diversity in the largely-white worlds of Western academia and literature.

The Dominican-American author also comments on the importance of idealism in young people, why there's always a struggle when you come from the margins, and why — in a world packed with advice for writers — he offers his advice to readers. 

"Drop down out of Instagram time, out of Facebook time. Drop down into a much more human rhythm," says Diaz, adding that, for the sake of our culture and our future, we all have to learn to slow down. 

"To read a book is to be in the slow zone of the human."

Forget advice for writers. Junot Diaz has some pointers for readers. (Susan Mckenzie/CBC)