Ellison's Grandbabies

I've been meaning to discuss this essay for nearly a week. Time constraints and fatigue have kept me from doing so; but I will get to it either Sunday or Monday soon. In the meantime:

Writers Like Me by Martha Southgate

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. And so I got on the phone with some editors and African-American writers to talk about it.

That's just the opening graph. Do read the entire piece and search the web for reactions. Both good and bad. Again, I'll have my own thoughts on the essay — and of course, the many reactions it's engendered — shortly.That's just the opening graph. Do read the entire piece and search the web for reactions. Both good and bad. Again, I'll have my own thoughts on the essay — and of course, the many reactions it's engendered — shortly.

Posted by ronn at July 7, 2007 01:03 AM