This week I started reading Erasure, Percival Everett’s 2001 novel about how African-American literature is perceived and discussed in the literary mainstream. (This 2001 novel was adapted into the film American Fiction, which was nominated for an Oscar last year, and which I wrote about here.) I find the title of this novel especially relevant at this time of year, as the annual celebration in the U.S. known as Black History Month draws to a close, and as attempts to erase our nation’s Black history continue. At all levels of government, in schools, colleges, and universities, and in the corporate world, Black History Month celebrations have been “muted,” as Forbes puts it, due to a rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives and practices. One highly visible example: on the eve of Black History Month, newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth barred the DoD from using “official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events” related to Black History Month and other “cultural awareness months.”)
Continue reading “Friday Five: the end of Black History Month”Tag: literature
Is the literary man an endangered species?
A recent New York Times op-ed raises some concerns.
An opinion piece in The New York Times over the weekend — titled “The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone” (gift link) — has me thinking about the role of gender and, dare I say, diversity in the field of literature today.
The author, David J. Morris, who teaches creative writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, writes that “literary fiction has become a largely female pursuit.”
Continue reading “Is the literary man an endangered species?”
Andy writes! 