WHY DO BLACK WRITERS HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME?

Author Martha Southgate recently wrote an essay called "Writers Like Me" for the New York Times Sunday Book Review. In the piece, she ponders why there aren't more serious, literary black writers in her age bracket (she's 46) when there seems to be plenty white ones. She writes:

These days, there are only a few names of black authors born in the United States, beyond Morrison's, that the average reader of serious fiction might easily drop - Colson Whitehead, ZZ Packer, Edward P. Jones. Of these three, only Jones is over 40.

But black authors writing in an ambitious, thoughtful way about American subjects are harder to find - even when they do get published.

So Southgate, who is the author of three novels, does a little investigation and comes up with a few reasons.

One is pretty much racism.

Another is the fact that many blacks aren't afforded the same sort of financial cushion/security of their white counterparts to pursue an uncertain career in writing. She uses the example of Edward P. Jones, author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel THE KNOWN WORLD. Jones published his first book, LOST IN THE CITY, in 1992 at the age of 41. Although it was critically-acclaimed (it really is a fabulous book), he returned to his job at a magazine where he worked for the next ten years before he was laid off. He wrote THE KNOWN WORLD in six months although he thought about it for ten years. His response to why he didn't make the leap to full-time writer sooner was:

"If you're born poor or you're born working-class, a job is important. People who are born with silver spoons in their mouths never have to worry. They know someone will take care of them. Worrying about not having a job would have put a damper on any creativity that I would have had. So I'm glad I had that job."

Another reason Southgate uncovered regarding why there aren't more serious black writers is low book sales. If people aren't buying books by these types of writers, publishers aren't responding by publishing more of them. A simple, yet hurtful fact of supply and demand.

Truth is, Southgate is a fabulous writer. I loved her most recent book THIRD GIRL FROM THE LEFT and after I read it, I wondered why she wasn't more popular. Why didn't more people know her name or her work. Why isn't she a bestselling writer?

And how many writers like her are getting lost in the cracks? How many other great writers aren't getting the shine, respect, and book sales they deserve? And how much is the black community supporting our talented wordsmiths writing in any genre (not just literary fiction)?

Southgate ends her essay by writing:
It saddens me to think of the dreams that have been ditched, the stories that haven't been told because of racism, because of fear and economic insecurity, because that first novel didn't move enough copies. I hope to see the day when there are more of us at the party (and the parties), when the work of African-Americans who tell our part of the American story well receives the celebration, and the sales, it deserves.

Click here to read the entire essay.