Literary Ghetto

I read all kinds of fiction. I read works by authors who are white, African-American, Latino, Russian, Spanish, French, whatever and whoever. I really like to read stories about people who are not like me. That is one of the great things about fiction--getting a glimpse into the lives of other people, situations, and periods in time.

One thing writers who are not white or male complain about is that you can be put into a ghetto based on your gender and/or race. If you are African American, your book may be put in that section in a bookstore, even if you have written a mainstream novel. If you're at a book festival, you will be put on a panel with others of your race, gender, and/or sexual orientation to talk about Women in fiction, Latino/a fiction, African-American fiction, Lesbian fiction, whatever. The complaint being that there are no White Straight Male novelist panels or sections because that is more or less considered "the given" in books.

For instance, I was at a book festival in 2004 where 4 or 5 writers were on a panel called "The Feminine Touch." Their books were not at all similar, not even in the same genre, but they had been grouped together because they were all women. At one point, the panelists complained about the name of their panel (which they had not chosen) and stated that they preferred to be thought of as writers, not "women writers," or whatever. And for just a moment, I'd like you to imagine a panel composed of writers who have nothing in common except their gender called "The Masculine Touch." All this is leading up to the following.

Today I read about an author who is African American and says her publisher told her they would not publish her book unless she changed race of the characters (who are white) to African American. I'm not surprised, somehow. Sad, but not surprised.

Note: it appears the post has been deleted. Not sure what that means. But here are some other takes on the issue. Lee Goldberg's site is where I saw this mention originally.

Note 2: Another thought I had after writing this entry. I was in a writing workshop with someone who was writing characters of a different race in her novel. I felt very uncomfortable with this for a few reasons. One, she was using quotes from songs and other sources in a different language that she could not read or understand, and two, some of these "ethnic" characters did not feel authentic to me for a variety of reasons. Dialogue, mannerisms, etc. I just didn't buy it. She and I had a somewhat heated discussion about this that we later seemed to come to terms with and I think that the benefit of time has helped me clarify my thoughts.

I think that writers (and artists of any kind) have the right to create work about anything and anyone. I don't think you have to be white to write white characters or African American to have African-American characters. However, I also think you have to earn the right to tell certain stories.

For instance, a character in my story served a tour in Vietnam. I decided very early on that this was important to his character and shaped the man he later became; however, I was very aware that this war and time in history shaped a generation and certainly the people who served there. I did not feel Vietnam was my story to tell; I didn't think I could create an authentic scene about it. For that reason, Vietnam is only referred to a couple of times in the book, and is never the focus of a scene.

That's not to say I think you have to have served in Vietnam to write about it. But if you are going to write about something like Vietnam or the Holocaust or some other equally charged subject, I think you as an artist have the obligation to do very serious research and know that you can create an authentic work. There are some subjects and situations that are so complex and sensitive, I think you owe it to the subject to ask yourself: why do I think this is my story to tell? And if you don't have a good answer for that, why are you writing the book? That applies to any creative work, I suppose, not just sensitive or charged ones.