HARROWING

Junot Díaz: I Was Raped as a Young Boy

The Pulitzer-winning author revealed a childhood trauma that has impacted every aspect of his life.

Author Junot Díaz on Monday revealed in a harrowing New Yorker essay that he was raped as a young boy; and that the childhood trauma led to several suicide attempts, many failed relationships, and a lifetime of struggling with telling even those closest to him. “I was raped when I was 8 years old. By a grownup that I truly trusted,” he confessed. “After he raped me, he told me I had to return the next day or I would be ‘in trouble.’ And because I was terrified, and confused, I went back the next day and was raped again. I never told anyone what happened, but today I’m telling you. And anyone else who cares to listen.” Díaz explored in the essay how the trauma’s long-lasting effects intertwined with his experiences while writing his first book, as well as his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.