On the Struggle of the Black Novelist...

Brian Gibson sent me an email about his struggle to publish his new novel that I will reprint here in its entirity:

"To Conscientious Readers: I once had a literary agent inform me that “black women only read romance novels, black men don’t read, and whites—both male and female—don’t read books written by blacks, unless of course they’ve been dead for about fifty years.”

The point of him telling me this was to explain why he couldn’t represent me, “because,” he then said, “since you don’t write romance novels, no one will ever read your books.” Now, the accuracy of his prediction is unknown to me; however, it is my profound hope that it is flawed, because, if true—that contemporary African American literature is now home to only one genre, romance—then, if writing today, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison could not be published unless abandoning their exalted prose for nonsense; and since these authors are some of the most creative minds Negroes have ever produced, whose works, I believe, are not only reflections of themselves but of a people as well, what the agent really meant was: “Black people are absurd, mediocre, foolish, and trifling, and their art must reflect this, if it is to appeal to them.”
I am not here to debate whether the above conclusion is right or wrong; my goal is only to inform: My new book is a work of fiction; it is perhaps, in the wake of our disastrous 2005, the most necessary work by an African American writer in decades.

Maybe this is why every major literary agency declined to represent it: it wasn’t “black” enough, that is, it wasn’t absurd, mediocre, foolish, or trifling enough. I’ve since chosen to publish it myself; it is my supreme goal to prove the detractors wrong. But I can only accomplish this with the help of conscientious readers, whatever their race or gender.

By purchasing my novel, Karma Incarnate: The Best of Foolkiller, you’re not only acquiring a work that both informs and inspires, that, once again, raises the bar to where Baldwin first put it, but you’re also, through its successes, guaranteeing the publication of other significant books by authors whose works, for reasons I’ve already mentioned, might not ever see the light of day, instead remaining in the shadows of dark closets. With your help, African American authors can once again take our place in the sun.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bryan Gibson
bryangibson.com
Brooklyn, New York"

word.
samax.
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