Writing Intersectional Identities: Keywords for Creative Writers

Is it okay to write about people of other genders, races and identities? And how do I do this responsibly? Whether you are working in fiction, poetry, drama or creative non-fiction, becoming conscious of how you represent people of different social identities is one of the most important responsibilities you have as a writer. This is the first practical guide to thinking and writing reflectively about these issues. Organised in an easy-to-use A to Z format for practicing writers, teachers and students, Writing Intersectional Identities covers such key terms as: Appropriation Authenticity Body Class Counternarrative Disability Essentialism Gender Indigenous Power Privilege Representation The book is meant for writers of fiction, poetry, screenplays and creative non-fiction who are seeking to develop a writing practice that is attentive to the world. The book is supported by a companion website at www.criticalcreativewriting.org.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction For Students For Instructors Appropriation Audience Authenticity Author Belonging Body Class Colonialism Community Consciousness Counternarrative Diaspora Disability Emotion Essentialism Gender Globalization Identity Indigenous Intersectionality Language Minoritized Multiculturalism National Positionality Power Privilege Race Religion Representation Sexuality Bibliography and Suggested Reading

About the Author :
Janelle Adsit is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Humboldt State University, USA. She is editor of Critical Creative Writing: Essential Readings on the Writer's Craft (2018) and author of the book Toward an Inclusive Creative Writing: Threshold Concepts to Guide the Literary Writing Curriculum (2017). Renée M. Byrd is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Humboldt State University, USA. Her research focuses on race, gender, and mass imprisonment. Her writing can be found in the journal Social Justice, Abolition: A Journal of Insurgent Politics and on her blog Persistent Connections at www.persistentconnections.wordpress.com.

Review :
What a bold, ambitious, and, entirely necessary book Writing Intersectional Identities is. In it, Adsit and Byrd radically examine critical debates within cultural and identity theory and politics to consider how these debates open new possibilities, challenges, and responsibilities for creative writers. Historically wide-ranging and intellectually expansive, the book grounds keywords such as “appropriation,” “intersectionality,” and “race,” in rich, succinct, and timely discussions that provide countless opportunities for further exploration. But that’s not all. Because even as Adsit and Byrd take on some of the most pressing issues in the larger fields of English and cultural studies, they refuse to look away from what these might mean for creative writing, its students and its teachers. I wish I had this book when I was starting out. It would have helped me a lot, and it would have helped my students too. This book encourages students to engage critically with their culture and to evolve along with the cultural landscape. I will be returning to this book again and again as both a writer and a teacher.