Overview

A vital collection of essays on the power of literature and the craft of writing from an international array of writers of color, sharing the experiences, cultural traditions, and convictions that have shaped them and their work “Electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery . . . a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once.”—Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens   Filled with empathy and wisdom, instruction and inspiration, this book encourages us to reevaluate the codes and conventions that have shaped our assumptions about how fiction should be written, and also challenges us to apply its lessons to both what we read and how we read. Featuring:   • Taymour Soomro on resisting rigid stories about who you are • Madeleine Thien on how writing builds the room in which it can exist • Amitava Kumar on why authenticity isn’t a license we carry in our wallets • Tahmima Anam on giving herself permission to be funny • Ingrid Rojas Contreras on the bodily challenge of writing about trauma • Zeyn Joukhadar on queering English and the power of refusing to translate ourselves • Myriam Gurba on the empowering circle of Latina writers she works within • Kiese Laymon on hearing that no one wants to read the story that you want to write • Mohammed Hanif on the censorship he experienced at the hands of political authorities • Deepa Anappara on writing even through conditions that impede the creation of art • Plus essays from Tiphanie Yanique, Xiaolu Guo, Jamil Jan Kochai, Vida Cruz-Borja, Femi Kayode, Nadifa Mohamed in conversation with Leila Aboulela, and Sharlene Teo   The start of a more inclusive conversation about storytelling, Letters to a Writer of Color will be a touchstone for aspiring and working writers and for curious readers everywhere.

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9780593449417

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Reviews

Witty, candid, bold, gutsy, eye-opening and sometimes eye-popping, revelatory, and wise . . . If you want to know what writers talk about among themselves, you've found it. Reading this anthology was like eavesdropping on a private conversation. I enjoyed every minute, and as I closed the book, all I wanted to say was simply this: 'Thank you!' -Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love A splendid, carnivalesque troupe of writers discuss how they enrich Literatures in English by deviating from the white male aesthetic. -David Dabydeen, author of Disappearance Letters to a Writer of Color is a brave and triumphant act of resistance and decolonization, a necessary resource for writers and educators alike, and a must-have book for readers who care about diversity and inclusion in literature. Reading this book, I felt seen and empowered. -Nguyen Phan Que Mai, bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child On the first read-through, I took in Letters to a Writer of Color like water that you gulp so quickly you don't even taste the sweetness, you are just so thirsty for this long, cool drink. And then I read it again, going back to savor, to let the ideas soak in. I'm certain I'll be rereading often, to let this book inform how I will write and how I hope to grow. Funny, moving, thought-provoking, default-challenging, engaging, and full of so much heart and so many voices, this book feels to me like nothing less than a revolution. -Melissa Fu, author of Peach Blossom Spring The problem of the color line, as W.E.B. Du Bois called it, has existed in literature and literary criticism as much as in social and geopolitical realms, and systematic neglect by publishers, critics, and readers has only exacerbated it. Excavating long-buried experiences of rejection, incomprehension, and misunderstanding, Letters to a Writer of Color defines the problem with precision and passion, and outlines ways to transcend it. No one interested in how we read and should read fiction can afford to miss this bracing and moving anthology. -Pankaj Mishra, author of Run and Hide Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro have gathered seventeen electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery. If you've ever felt that your creative choices were being dismissed or ignored in a fiction workshop, if you've been pressured to make your writing more 'accessible,' if you've strained under the demand to write about certain things only and to silence others-this book is for you. It is a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once. -Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens

“I found myself circling passages on every page, discussing the themes with anyone who would listen to me. . . .  It is a book about how we see ourselves and how we can, through reading and storytelling, draw ourselves and each other in a new, more complete image.”—The Boston Globe “If you’ve ever felt that your creative choices were being dismissed or ignored in a fiction workshop, if you’ve been pressured to make your writing more ‘accessible,’ if you’ve strained under the demand to write about certain things only and to silence others—this book is for you.”—Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens “. . . a beautiful and galvanizing anthology, featuring some of the most dazzling writers working today.”—Autostraddle “Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro cultivate a community for melanated readers and the writers who create for them. . . . The unifying thread is a pulsing need to construct a world where we are rendered whole and vivid on the page.”—Essence “A whip-smart collection of essays . . . I read parts of it with the joy of recognition and other parts with the astonishment of revelation.”—Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire “A brave and triumphant act of resistance and decolonization, a necessary resource for writers and educators alike, and a must-have book for readers who care about diversity and inclusion in literature. Reading this book, I felt seen and empowered.”—Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child “Funny, moving, thought-provoking, default-challenging, engaging, and full of so much heart and so many voices, this book feels to me like nothing less than a revolution.”—Melissa Fu, author of Peach Blossom Spring “Witty, candid, bold, gutsy, eye-opening and sometimes eye-popping, revelatory and wise! If you want to know what writers talk about among themselves, you’ve found it.”—Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love “Here, matters of craft are interwoven with those of personhood and politics, offering a global range of perspectives rarely found in books on writing.”—Tania James, author of Aerogrammes and The Tusk That Did the Damage “A revelatory reading experience. A book that guides, teaches, and gives off its own shimmering light, that demands to be read and re-read.”—Katherine J. Chen, author of Joan “Essential reading in a world full of soundbites and furious noise.”—Tash Aw, author of Strangers on a Pier “A stunningly personal and practical compilation of literary and life advice . . .”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “This captivating love letter to writers of color deserves to be in every library the world over.”—Booklist (starred review)   “A vivid look at what it means to be a writer of color today.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Letters to a Writer of Color is a brave and triumphant act of resistance and decolonization, a necessary resource for writers and educators alike, and a must-have book for readers who care about diversity and inclusion in literature. Reading this book, I felt seen and empowered. -Nguyen Phan Que Mai, bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro have gathered seventeen electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery. If you've ever felt that your creative choices were being dismissed or ignored in a fiction workshop, if you've been pressured to make your writing more 'accessible,' if you've strained under the demand to write about certain things only and to silence others-this book is for you. It is a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once. -Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens

Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro have gathered seventeen electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery. If you've ever felt that your creative choices were dismissed or ignored in a fiction workshop, if you've been pressured to make your writing more 'accessible', if you've strained under the demand to write about certain things only and silence others-this book is for you. It is a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once. -Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens

Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro have gathered seventeen electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery. If you've ever felt that your creative choices were being dismissed or ignored in a fiction workshop, if you've been pressured to make your writing more 'accessible,' if you've strained under the demand to write about certain things only and to silence others-this book is for you. It is a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once. -Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens

Author Information

Deepa Anappara grew up in Kerala, southern India, and worked as a journalist in cities including Mumbai and Delhi. Her debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, and NPR. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Indian Literature. Taymour Soomro was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He has worked as a corporate solicitor in London and Milan, an agricultural estate manager in rural Pakistan, and a publicist for a luxury fashion brand in London. His short fiction has been published in The New Yorker, and he is the author of the novel Other Names for Love.

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