The Muse & the Marketplace 2017

This session will explore the ways race and identity are involved in the writing of both fiction and nonfiction. First, it will examine the differences between how white writers and writers of color introduce the ethnicity and race of their characters. This difference speaks to a deep ontological racial divide with implications that go beyond the literary world.  Second, what are the limits of the "show don't tell" aesthetic when it comes to the work of writers of color and how does the question, "Whom is the narrator telling the story to?" relate to the writing of both fiction and memoir, particularly for writers of color.  This session will investigate techniques for depicting racial and ethnic identity, and then relate them to organizing and executing narrative structures in both fiction and memoir.  There will be both lecture and discussion with handouts and LCD projector. Writers cited: Diaz, Packer, Baldwin, Franzen, Hong Kingston.