Letters to a Writer of Colour

Filled with empathy and wisdom, personal experiences and creative inspiration, this is a vital collection of essays on the power of literature and the craft of writing from an international array of writers of colour.'Electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery . . . a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once' Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens'A whip-smart collection' Kamila Shamsie, author of Best of FriendsWhat if we reconsidered our assumptions about how fiction should be written? And can we then apply our discoveries to both what we read and how we read? This book explores these questions and encourages us into a more inclusive conversation about storytelling, featuring:• Taymour Soomro on resisting rigid stories about who you are• Madeleine Thien on how writing builds the room in which it can exist• Amitava Kumar on why authenticity isn't a license we carry in our wallets• Tahmima Anam on giving herself permission to be funny• Ingrid Rojas Contreras on the bodily challenge of writing about trauma• Zeyn Joukhadar on queering English and the power of refusing to translate ourselves• Kiese Laymon on hearing that no one wants to read the story that you want to write• Deepa Anappara on writing even through conditions that impede the creation of artPlus essays from Tiphanie Yanique, Xiaolu Guo, Jamil Jan Kochai, Vida Cruz-Borja, Femi Kayode, Nadifa Mohamed in conversation with Leila Aboulela, Myriam Gurba, Mohammed Hanif and Sharlene Teo.'This book is essential' Nikesh Shukla'Bracing and moving . . . No one interested in how we read and should read fiction can afford to miss this' Pankaj Mishra, author of Run And Hide

A whip-smart collection of essays. I read parts of it with the joy of recognition and other parts with the astonishment of revelation, Electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery . . . a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once, The problem of the color line, as WEB Du Bois called it, has existed in literature and literary criticism as much as social and geopolitical realms, and systematic neglect by publishers, critics and readers has only exacerbated it. Excavating long-buried experiences of rejection, incomprehension and misunderstanding, Letters to a Writer of Colour defines the problem with precision and passion, and also outlines ways to transcend it. No one interested in how we read and should read fiction can afford to miss this bracing and moving anthology, I knew I would love this book as soon as I laid eyes on the title and the list of contributors, and it didn't disappoint - far from it. These essays provide so much wisdom and warmth, giving us a sense of restoration, of community. They take a refreshingly holistic view of the craft and balance real technical insight with deeply gentle humanity. I cannot wait for my students to read this book!, Letters to a Writer of Colour is a brave and triumphant act of resistance and decolonisation, a necessary resource for writers and educators alike, and a must-have book for readers who care about diversity and inclusion in literature. Reading this book, I felt seen and empowered

Deepa Anappara grew up in Kerala, southern India, and worked as a journalist in cities including Mumbai and Delhi. Her reports on the impact of poverty and religious violence on the education of children won the Developing Asia Journalism Awards, the Every Human has Rights Media Awards, and the Sanskriti-Prabha Dutt Fellowship in Journalism. A partial of her debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, the Bridport/Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award and the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. Published in 2020, it has since been named as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Washington Post, Time and NPR. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel, was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020, and shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Indian Literature. Deepa has an MA in Creative Writing and is currently studying for a PhD.Taymour Soomro was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He read law at Cambridge University and Stanford Law School. He has worked as a corporate solicitor in New York and Milan, a law lecturer at a university in Karachi, an agricultural estate manager in rural Pakistan and a publicist for a luxury fashion brand in London. Soomro has an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing. He has written extensively for the Pakistani news media. His short fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Southern Review and Ninth Letter. His debut novel, Other Names for Love, will be published by Harvill Secker in 2022.