Russell Banks, Susan Sontag, Maya Angelou, Camille Paglia, Stephen Greenblatt, Tom Wolfe and David Mitchell

In the first of this 10-part series, Escaping the Cage: Identity, Multiculturalism and Writing, we sample the range of attitudes toward identity, identity politics and multiculturalism. Among the highlights: Angelou describes an emotional encounter with Tupac Shakur, Sontag rejects self-expression as a writing goal, and Paglia embraces multiculturalism while scolding academics for losing literature in a welter of special interests...