roxane gay, welcome to hardtalk. stephen, thank you for having me.l, it's a great pleasure to have you here. you've written with extraordinary candour about your own life... i have. ..and it strikes me that writing about it — presumably a solitary occupation — is one thing but then, speaking about it in public is quite another. it is, it is. over the years, has the speaking about it become easier? it has. i'm actually afraid of public speaking, and that's why i'm a writer, and i never anticipated in my career that i would be speaking about anything in public. but the more you do something, the more habituated you get, and it does get easier and, you know, i tend to speak in front of very receptive crowds and so, that also makes it a lot easier, and i stand by everything i've ever written, so that helps. i've talked about self—exposure being scary. mm—hm. does it feel scary, even now? it's always, always terrifying. i have very firm boundaries, even though people seem to think i don't, but i have very firm boundaries. you know what i am willing for yo

my guest, american writer and academic roxane gay,