NYT Essay: Writers Like Me

BOOKS / SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW | July 1, 2007
Essay: Writers Like Me
By MARTHA SOUTHGATE
For most black authors, the writing life rarely unfolds the way it does for so many white writers you could name.


I am a 46-year-old writer of “literary” fiction. I’ve had three novels published — the first for young people, the last two for adults. All have won minor prizes, been respectfully reviewed and sold modestly. I’ve been awarded a few fairly competitive fellowships and grants. The business is full of fiction writers like me. With one difference: I’m black, born and raised in the United States. At the parties and conferences I attend, and in the book reviews I read, I rarely encounter other African-American “literary” writers, particularly in my age bracket. There just don’t seem to be that many of us out there, and that’s something I’ve come to wonder about a great deal. more...