Praise for Baldwin Styron and Me

Baldwin Styron and Me is an intellectual reflection that serves as a valuable contribution to the current debates about race equity and identity

Anita Snow Associated Press

Abdelmoumens work demonstrates the good faith conversations being held within a cultural scene that is both local and transnational in its outlook

Amanda Perry Literary Review of Canada

Abdelmoumens book suggests that failure might be productive that risks need not always pay off to create value that friction and disagreement can lead to necessary ongoing conversations By knitting together this literary history with her own personal experiences Abdelmoumen has created something new and vital

Clementine Oberst Miramichi Reader

Original exceptional thoughtprovoking

Midwest Book Review

In this insightful memoir the first of her books to appear in English Abdelmoumen reflects on race ethnicity cultural appropriation and her own multiple identities A thoughtful timely contribution to a controversial debate

Kirkus Reviews

This is a fascinating meditation on how disparate writers can stimulate each others creativity and on the pitfalls of crosscultural art

Booklist

Pragmatic emotional timely and urgent Baldwin Styron and Me is unlike anything Ive read and is just the sort of book that begs translation in as many languages as possible

Scout Magazine

Baldwin Styron and Me is a valuable examination of certain points of dissension or disagreement ongoing in our culture

Steven Beattie That Shakespearean Rag

Mlikah Abdelmoumen has painted an intimate and compelling portrait of what it means to live on the frontier between opposing communities She has also birthed a personal and courageous meditation on the unexpected and striking friendship between two great American writers In this polarized world Baldwin Styron and Me stands out as a polished gem It reminds us to meet and befriend our neighboursall of them

Lawrence Hill author of The Book of Negroes

What a joy it was to get to know Mlikah and her family through this book It felt like visiting old friends Through a personal lens Mlikah also reintroduces an old acquaintance in Baldwin who I love and admire as deeply as her and a less familiar character in Styron In exploring this relationship between two writers so different yet sharing the experience of writing she reveals a new way to understand both this moment and our own relations Intellectually engrossing and tenderly written this book is a balm for this time and a welcome visit with new and old relations

Jesse Wente author of Unreconciled Family Truth and Indigenous Resistance

Mlikah Abdelmoumens richly informed writing gives real hope to a world divided in its ideological stances and political positions She reminds us that if the grandson of a slave and the grandson of a slave owner can reach beyond the bounds of an unfettered scantly imagined humanism to find common ground respect and friendshipwho are we not to

Okezie Nwoka author of God of Mercy

A truly relevant essay from one of the greatest Quebec thinkers of our time who reflects on both the question of cultural appropriation and artistic freedom with great singularity and refreshing freedom

RadioCanada

In this rich and fascinating essay Mlikah Abdelmoumen criticizes aggressive radicalism advocating instead dialogue and empathy With the help of Baldwin and Styron the author allows us to see that dialogue is not only possible but necessary

La Gazette de la Mauricie