Have you seen the new film American Fiction? The screenplay was adapted from Percival Everett’s Erasure that was published in 2001. It’s a scathing look at racism in the publishing industry, a really timely and important topic. I watched a Q&A featuring the director of American Fiction, Cord Jefferson, where he addresses how he came across the book and how there were scenes he had to cut, but that impacted him on reading it.
I think what gets me the most about the book, and now the adaptation, is that SO little has changed in the past 23 years. From the time Percival wrote the book to now, we are still having the same discussions. Erasure walked in the early 2000s so that Yellowface could run now. But how many more decades will go by? Will we have another satire in 20 years trying to provoke the same discussions? I’d love to know everyones thoughts – Cord Jefferson closes his interview by saying he feels hopeful, and it’s hard to know whether I agree! Do you think the landscape in the publishing world and beyond is really changing?
I think there’s definitely a lot of truth to the prejudice the film highlights. There’s been a lot of focus and spend put behind books that deal with trauma and pain the black experience, but less on books highlighting black joy or characters who don’t play into black stereotypes.
Do you think the film is going to bring about good discussion in the publishing industry? I know a lot of UK industry professionals attending an early preview screening in January hosted by The Tandem Collective in London. I think going forward we need more stories written by black authors on a wide variety of topics. What do you think are the ways forward for publishing in 2024?
by JuliannaReads