Letters to a Writer of Colour

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

What 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 art

Plus 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.

Read by Deepa Anaparra, Taymour Soomro, Madeleine Thien, Amitava Kumar, Tahmima Anam, Tiphanie Yanique, Marisol Ramirez, Cindy Kay, Zeyn Joukhadar, Jamil Jan Kochai, Nic Villasenor, Cary Hite, Simone McIntyre, Susan Nezami, Carolina Hoyos, Aaron Goodson, Mohammed Hanif and Mirai.

'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

'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 Friends

©2023 Edited by Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

  • A whip-smart collection of essays. I read parts of it with the joy of recognition and other parts with the astonishment of revelation

    Kamila Shamsie

  • 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

  • Letters to a Writer of Colour is full of wisdom, nuance and elegance. It stretches discourses around “colour” and invites us to think more deeply and broadly about these questions. It is essential reading in a world full of soundbites and furious noise

    Tash Aw

  • 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

    Pankaj Mishra

  • 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!

    Okechukwu Nzelu, author of Here Again Now

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