Former Editorial
| X-Y-Z Writer | 11th September 2009 |
| Are you an ethnic writer, racial writer, genre writer or just a writer? It strikes me that it’s one of those questions that has different answers depending on who is asking and the circumstances of the writer when they’re asked. I’m a black writer. I am a black person and I like to write. This however, is far too simple. When I write, my identity is not always pertinent, it does not change the way the breeze cooly kisses the branches and insistently whispers to the leaves. But, as I write, the backpack of amassed history I carry, the weight of colourful perceptions; testimony and self evidence, inform my words. Often, outside of the mainstream there are untold lives and new writers may emerge on the back of these under reported and under written pockets of life. A community writer, for instance, aided by the chance to write about 'what they know', writing about THEIR community; their skill as a writer, and the revelation of their subject matter combining fresh-to-press. I’d use Courttia Newland’s, Society Within (1999) as an example of this. Imagine this 'community writer' being interviewed: Interviewer: would you describe yourself as a community writer? Author: I'm a writer from the community. In such circumstances the new writer is unlikely to distance themselves from their origins. What they know and when they’ve written it, are part of the package; an authentication of the work. Cut to book two or three, when the author has moved on from their once familiar home ground. Now they wish the quality of their writing to be judged above their former status as a community herald. Run the interview again. Interviewer: this book isn’t like the previous one you wrote is it? Would you still describe yourself as a community writer? Author: I simply see myself as a writer. I prefer not to be categorized, I'm passionate about many things and when these interests come together they’ll result in me writing stuff down. Falling into categories crosses types, Dreda Say Mitchell (killer tunes 2007) is described (perhaps describes herself) as a crime writer - when honestly it hadn’t struck me that she might devote herself to crime writing, and that despite the up and coming 'gangster girl' series. I guess in this case the crime tag helps to target the writing at a strong audience. But let’s hope that if she ever chooses to loose the tag, she can do so without recrimination. We’re none of us 'types' of writer, these are devices placed on us and our work by others. We accept or reject the label based on how it serves our interests but if the tag sticks now we shouldn’t forever have to wear it. © Khome, 2009 (all rights reserved) |
