Writers of Color Discussing Craft - An Invisible Archive

“I often wonder what I’d do if there weren’t any books in the world.”
― James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

A few weeks ago I was thinking about how writers of color are almost never asked to speak about craft, and instead are always is asked to talk about race, identity, and the immigrant experience. And it’s true — when I think about all the books on writing craft I’ve read or heard about over the years I’m struck by how few POC-authored books on writing I’ve seen. Are they really that rare? Or are the books and essays out there, but we don’t know where to find them?

In some respects, this is really another part of a longer discussion around the violence and erasure of POC experiences and writing in many contemporary MFA writing workshops. The 2014 article "MFA vs POC" in The New Yorker brought into the public forum many of the frustrations and issues that writers of color have come to know as part of the MFA experience. For many, the MFA workshop is too often a space that privileges and celebrates a white and often male perspective, while silencing other voices. In what is often a profoundly white space, the student writer of color is often asked to conform to a standard rooted in white experience, or else asked to perform as a token or a race ambassador, or to write toward expected race narratives for the sake of "believability" as judged by their predominantly white peers. In such settings, feedback tends to be grounded in the assumption that the "reader" is white and imply that their appetites and approval require particular handling, placating, or self-mutilation to appease. This article led to a number of responses from well-known writers of color as well as current and former creative writing workshop students who had witnessed or experienced similar things. The end of this article features a collection of some of these responses.

At the heart of the MFA vs POC discussion is the contention that any discussion of craft does not take place in a vacuum -- that race is part of one's lived experience and how we see ourselves and are seen does impact how and what we write. Much of what is taught, for example, about craft in a writing workshop presumes the primacy of a Western European aesthetic tradition, ignoring 1) that tradition's historical debts to other cultures and traditions; 2) the multiple aesthetic traditions in literature and the arts elsewhere in the world which were concurrent or preceded the European tradition; 3) the complexity and fluidity of cultural exchange happening presently -- that we live in a global society where our literature and art should more accurately reflect the reality of our communities, not look back nostalgically to a whitewashed world that never was.

So how do we move forward? A key step is becoming better educated about what is and isn't out there already. If we wish to be more cognizant of the ways race and craft intertwine as we interrogate assumptions about canon, aesthetic tradition, and the workshop, then we need to read and study the existing archive (which, though often invisible inside a typical workshop, nonetheless exists) -- and if we find some things are missing, we should call attention to the gaps and (if possible) work toward filling them.

The following list is an expansion of a post I started on my own blog to catalog what writing resources are out there that have been written, edited, or presented by other writers of color (if you are aware of other texts, essays, and resources that should be listed, please post in the comments and I’ll add them in).

Last updated: 21 Nov 2021

Disclaimer: A few years after the original “MFA vs POC” article was published, numerous accounts surfaced of its author’s sexual harassment of young women (particularly young POC women writers). De-Canon does not condone sexual harassment or assault in any form. We have stricken his name and quotes from this above article, but are preserving the link to the article below for historical purposes — as many writers (unaware of his conduct) did respond to his article and the subsequent conversation can be understood better in context.

Single Authors on Craft

Delany, Samuel R. About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews. Wesleyan. 2006.
González, Rigoberto. Pivotal Voices, Era of Transition: Towards a 21st-Century Poetics. University of Michigan Press. 2017.
Hongo, Garrett. The Mirror Diary: Selected Essays. University of Michigan Press. 2017.
hooks, bell. Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work. Picador. 1999.
Johnson, Charles. The Way of the Writer. Scribner. 2016.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. To Be the Poet. Harvard University Press. 2002.
Lee, Li-Young. Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee. BOA Editions. 2006.
Lorca, Federico Garcia. In Search of Duende. New Directions. 1998.
Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press. 2007 (reprint).
Lorde, Audre. Conversations with Audre Lorde. University Press of Mississippi. 2004.
Mullen, Harryette. The Cracks Between What We Are and What We Are Supposed to Be: Essays and Interviews. University of Alabama Press. 2012.
Mura, David. A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing. 2018.
Paz, Octavio. Alternating Current. Arcade Publishing. 2015.
Paz, Octavio. The Bow and The Lyre: The Poem, The Poetic Revelation, Poetry and History. University of Texas Press. 2009.
Paz, Octavio. The Siren and the Seashell and Other Essays on Poets and Poetry. University of Texas Press. 1991.
Phillips, Carl. The Coin of the Realm: Essays on the Life and Art of Poetry. Graywolf. 2004.
Phillips, Carl. The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination. Graywolf. 2014.
Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors. Main Street Books. 1999.
Rhodes, Jewell Parker. The African American Guide to Writing & Publishing Non Fiction. Broadway, 2002.
Shawl, Nisi. Writing the Other. Aqueduct Press. 2005.

Anthologies on Craft

Ben-Oni, Rosebud (editor). On Poetics, Identity, and Latinidad: CantoMundo Poets Speak Out. Essay Press. 2017.
Dawes, Kwame (editor). When the Rewards Can Be So Great: Essays on Writing and the Writing Life. 1849 Editions. 2016.
Falconer, Blas & López, Lorraine (editors). The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity. University of Arizona Press. 2011.
Igloria, Luisa A. & Galvan-Huynh, Amanda (editors). Of Color: Poets’ Ways of Making An Anthology of Essays on Transformative Poetics. 2019.
Tabios, Eileen (editor). Black Lightning: Poetry-in-Progress. Asian American Writers Workshop. 1998.
Quan-Lee, Sherry (editor). How Dare We Write: A Multicultural Creative Writing Discourse. Modern History Press. 2017.

Textbooks

Chavez, Felicia Rose. The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom. Haymarket Books. 2021.
Huey, Amorak and Kaneko, Todd. Poetry: A Writers’ Guide and Anthology. Bloomsbury. 2018.
Joseph, Allison (editor). (poetry instructional guide for teen girls) [title tbd]. Upper Rubber Boot Books. Forthcoming.
Muller, Lauren (editor). June Jordan's Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint. Routledge, 1995.
Shawl, Nisi and Cynthia Ward. Writing the Other: A Practical Approach. Aqueduct Press. 2005.

Essays on Craft (in print)

Butler, Octavia. “Birth of a Writer,” Essence 20 (May 1989): 74+. Reprinted as “Positive Obsession” in Bloodchild and Other Stories. Seven Stories Press. 2005.
Mackey, Nathaniel. "Cante Moro," in Disembodied Poetics: Annals of the Jack Kerouac School, edited by Anne Waldman and Andrew Schelling. U of New Mexico Press. 1994.
Perez, Craig Santos. "Whitewashing American Hybrid Aesthetics," in The Monkey & The Wrench: Essays into Contemporary Poetics, edited by Mary Biddinger and John Gallaher. U of Akron Press. 2011.
Phillips, Carl. "The Ode," in Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry, edited by David Baker and Ann Townsend. Graywolf. 2007.

Essays on Craft (online)

Essays on Canon / De-Canon

Essays on Pedagogy (online)

Lectures/Podcasts on Craft (online)

Interviews (online)

Cecily Belle Blain (Assay Interview Project)
Joy Castro (Assay Interview Project)
Ramona Emerson (Assay Interview Project)
Melody Moezzi (Assay Interview Project)
Lee Ann Roripaugh (Assay Interview Project)
Anand Prahlad (Assay Interview Project)
Sumana Roy (Assay Interview Project)
Sejal Shah (Assay Interview Project)
Grace Talusan (Assay Interview Project)
Esme Weijun Wang (Assay Interview Project)

On MFA vs POC

On Race Appropriation (MDH / 'Yi-Fen Chou' BAP 2015 Scandal)

Other Recommended Texts

Aciman, Andre. False Papers: Essays on Exile and Memory. Picador. 2001.
Alexander, Meena. The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial Experience. South End Press. 1996.
Paz, Octavio. The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings. Grove Press. 1985.]
Yu, Timothy. Race and the Avant-Garde: Experimental and Asian American Poetry Since 1965. Stanford. 2009.

Neil Aitken is the author of two books of poetry, Babbage's Dream (Sundress 2017) and The Lost Country of Sight (Anhinga 2008), winner of the Philip Levine Prize. A former computer programmer and an aspiring digital scholarship librarian, he is a Kundiman Fellow and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside, a Ph.D. in Literature & Creative Writing from USC, and in 2025, an MLIS from UBC. He is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, the administrator of Have Book Will Travel, and a board member of Poetry East West. (www.neil-aitken.com | neil.aitken@gmail.com)

Edits

[2024-12-11] - Added essays by Patrice Gopo.

[2023-02-21] - Added essay by W. Todd Kaneko.

[2021-11-21] - Added non-fiction craft articles and interviews from Assay: A Journal of Non-Fiction Studies

[2017-08-30] - Added essay by Hyejung Kook.

[2017-08-10] - Added essay by Solmaz Sharif.

[2017-05-10] - Added links to essays by Jennifer S. Cheng.

[2017-05-08] - Added links to essays by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Added books by Samuel R. Delany and Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward. Added essay by Octavia Butler. Added links to responses to the MDH / Yi-Fen Chou 'yellowface' scandal. Added essay by Amy Tan.

[2017-05-07] - Added links to essays by Erika T. Wurth. Added author byline/bio.

[2017-05-06] - Added links to essays by Cathy Park Hong, Namrata Poddar, and Marilyn Nelson.

Sep 12, 2018

De-Canon: A Celebration of Our Summer Events & A Look Forward

Our stay at Mile Post 5 has been a phenomenal experience. We have enjoyed having a large space to ourselves in which we’ve been able to not only exhibit the entire (and continually expanding) collection of books, but create a space where we’ve hosted readings, offered writing workshops, provided room for meetings, and enabled writers and artists of color to interact with each other, as well as the local community. Here’s an overview of what' we’ve done this summer.

Mar 6, 2018

Some Notes for AWP 2018

Although De-Canon does not have a formal presence at AWP this year (that is, we didn't invest in a table), we will still have a presence of sorts. If you'd like to chat about the project, discuss past or future post topics for the blog, or want to learn more about how to have your own books included in the archive, stop by Table 1136 in the bookfair to find Neil who is representing Boxcar Poetry Review & Have Book Will Travel.

Mar 2, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 2: POC-Edited Literary Journals

In this post, we survey the landscape of literary journals and provide a listing of currently operating journals which are helmed by POC editors. In total, we found __ literary journals whose mastheads list a writer of color as their editor-in-chief. Many also feature additional associate editors and staff members who are also POC. Some of these journals have been around since the 70s, but many are newer online journals, having come into existence in the last 5 years.

Feb 22, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 1: POC-run Presses

If we hope to truly challenge or reimagine literary canon, it is not enough to consider the academic programs where young writers are taught and trained. We must look beyond the classroom and the professoriate, past endless reams of syllabi making and remaking what constitutes canon, and consider the practical matter of how these texts enter the field in the first place. In this post, we present a list of POC-helmed presses that are currently in operation.

Feb 7, 2018

Upcoming Poetry Book Prize Contests for POC Writers

Although the field of literary publishing is still primarily populated by white editors and publishers, there are some POC-owned and directed publishers and a number of new and well-established poetry book prizes that are judged by respected POC authors and which seek to champion work of writers from particular communities of color. If you're a POC poet with a book manuscript in need of a home, here's a list of upcoming contests you might want to try

Feb 2, 2018

POC Writers and Their Libraries

Over the past week and a half, we've been gathering images of POC writers and their libraries, as well as asking readers and writers of color to contribute their thoughts on the importance of building a personal library and how books by other POC writers have impacted their lives.

This post showcases responses from and glimpses into the libraries of Kazim Ali, Francisco Aragón, Jackson Bliss, Genève Chao, Shu-Ling Chua, Oliver de la Paz, M. Evelina Galang, Nathania Gilson, Jenna Le, Gemma Mahadeo, Meera (@ashmeera101), and Brian W. Parker.

Jan 26, 2018

A Library of One's Own

It's hard to explain exactly why having a personal library is so valuable -- and why it is particularly valuable to a person of color (writer or reader) to build a library for oneself. Here are a few ways of thinking about the value and purpose of a personal library -- and what it can enable in ourselves.

"The history of English is inextricably tied to the history of war, to the history of empire; they cannot be separated. And hence our literature cannot be separated from these histories. Language is one of the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of the war's first victims."

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