The "multicultural" novel has been on a long, strange trip in American literature. The story of the black and white experience, the "mixed" experience, can be traced back to writers like James Weldon Johnson and Nella Larsen, but that was a long time ago. What do such stories look like in the 21st century? Where the old stories might've suggested tragedy or doom, the tales of a new age aren't always so simple. Malcolm Hansen '14 and Professor Victor LaValle '98, both mixed race authors, will tackle questions of authenticity and inclusion; self-policing in the black community and exceptionalism in the white community. The importance of owning one's own multicultural experience and how that experience has changed over the past 50 years. Hansen and LaValle may not agree on every point, but they promise to keep the shouting to a minimum. Probably.
This conversation is part of an ongoing series of dialogues and lectures, hosted by Columbia University’s Our Word, that challenge and explore how identity, in particular racial identity, impacts readers and writers.
Our Word is a student organization whose mission is to enrich the Columbia University School of the Arts, and the literary community in general, with outreach, advocacy, and inclusion of new and old literary voices.
Organized Columbia University School of the Arts Our Word and Columbia Artist/Teachers (CA/T).
