Book Review: Letters to a Writer of Color by Deepa Anappara (Editor) and Taymour Soomro (Editor)

a timely book for everyone who reads and writes.

Jan 09, 2023

I received an advanced reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Expected publication date: March 7th, 2023.

Letters to a Writer of Color is an anthology essay collection about the craft of writing and the writing life, from the perspectives of seventeen writers of color from around the world. These writers each contribute an essay about their writing life and their inextricably related personal life as persons of color. They write about their struggles, pains, joys, triumphs, and failures in the publishing industry dominated by whiteness, and their constant search for their place in the writing world.

This book is full of wisdom, courage, and truths. It is not only for those who write, but also who read.

In the introduction section, the editors share their hopes for this collective effort:

Our hope for this anthology is that it will create a sense of community for readers and writers who feel isolated, misread, silenced, or erased because they do not see their stories on bookshelves or their bodies in fiction.

These writers tell their individual stories and share their concerns for the world of fiction writing:

Taymour Soomro on the expectation that writers of color represent their own people, that they should “stay in their lane”;
Ingrid Rojas Contreras on writing about trauma and the commodification of trauma;
Xiaolu Guo on the burden of self-translation when writing in your second language;
Jamil Jan Kochai on writing and existing as an Arab/Muslim queer writer in a world where western-story telling is preferred;
Femi Kayode on liberating “African writing” from the poverty porn;
Myriam Gurba on white writers’ stereotyping and exoticizing of black and brown stories to satisfy the curiosity and feel-goodness of the white audience;
Kiese Laymon on how much “racial politics“ is enough to be a “real black writer” and the pain of writing the stories that no one wants to read;
Sharlene Teo on writing as a transnational experience - where one grows up in one country and now lives in another;
any many more.

Each essay is different. Each offers insights and very personal stories, about how writers of Asian, Black, African, Latinx, Muslim, queer, and immigrant identities navigate the world. They challenge us, as readers, to see beyond the story in fiction - that it’s not only about the story, but also about who wrote it, and why. It teaches us, as readers, to discern and perceive more critically(e.g. Myriam Gurba’s now famous critique of the 2019 best-seller American Dirt).

When I read this book at the end of 2022, I just started my Substack and had not published anything. I was mostly lurking around, creating drafts and deleting. I was nervous about putting my words out in the world and fearful about being judged. Who am I to review books and why would people care what I think?

I grew up in China and moved to the US to study when I was 18. I’ve always struggled writing in English, a history degree later. I make grammar mistakes, write sentences that are too long, and have to constantly look up English words that appear in my head to make sure it actually means what I think it means. I self-translate in my head. Sentences and words come into my head in English and Chinese, often mashed up with one another. I doubt myself.

Then, I came across these essays as if these letters were written to me. I learned that my words hold power, that my stories can be interesting, and that my perspectives do matter. That my imposter syndrome comes from not seeing enough of myself or my story in online writing. That I must write for myself first before I write for anyone else.

It’s a timely book for those who read and write, a book that calls for more inclusive conversations about the craft of fiction writing and the writing life. It resonated with me and I think it will resonate with many of you. I hope you check it out when it comes out on March 7th.

Each author ends their essay with a list of reading suggestions, encouraging readers to take on more readings to expand their knowledge. In that realm, here are mine: