Taiye Selasi, author of the highly acclaimed debut novel Ghana Must Go (Penguin, March 2013, available here), tells a mind-boggling story of acceptance and rejection that ends with wisdom every writer can embrace. Her short story, “The Sex Lives of African Girls,” was published by Granta in 2011 and is included in The Best American Short Stories 2012.

In a talk she gave at The Center for Fiction in New York, Selasi tells how that story got published. This video is under five minutes.

For more of stories of rejection and acceptance, read “Make a Wish, Then Forward This Post” and add your story!