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Baldwin, Styron, and Me
Finalist for the 2025 John Glassco Translation Prize
An unlikely literary friendship from the past sheds light on the radicalization of public debate around identity, race, and censorship.
In 1961, James Baldwin spent several months in William Styron’s guest house. The two wrote during the day, then spent evenings confiding in each other and talking about race in America. During one of those conversations, Baldwin is said to have convinced his friend to write, in first person, the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The Confessions of Nat Turner was published to critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1968, and also creating outrage in part of the African American community.
Decades later, the controversy around cultural appropriation, identity, and the rights and responsibilities of the writer still resonates. In Baldwin, Styron, and Me, Mélikah Abdelmoumen considers the writers’ surprising yet vital friendship from her standpoint as a racialized woman torn by the often unidimensional versions of her identity put forth by today’s politics and media. Considering questions of identity, race, equity, and the often contentious public debates about these topics, Abdelmoumen works to create a space where the answers are found by first learning how to listen—even in disagreement.
Praise forBaldwin Styron and Me
Baldwin Styron and Meis an intellectual reflection that serves as a valuable contribution to the current debates about race equity and identity
Anita SnowAssociated Press
Abdelmoumens work demonstrates the good faith conversations being held within a cultural scene that is both local and transnational in its outlook
Amanda PerryLiterary Review of Canada
Abdelmoumens entanglement with Baldwin and Styron throughout the years distinguishes her retelling The book unfurls as an intertextual love story combining memoir correspondence dramatic monologues and quotations from the authors work The formal innovation ofBaldwin Styron and Mecaptures the risk inherent to both making art and forming relationships
Faith ParMontreal Review of Books
What Abdelmoumen has written is important and very timely It is also wonderfully reassuring to read this book about two men who overcame their ancestry and social differences to create a lasting friendship They have lessons to teach us if we choose to listen An enthralling read of enormous value
Ottawa Review of Books
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 OberstMiramichi 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 urgentBaldwin Styron and Meis 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 Meis 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 worldBaldwin Styron and Mestands out as a polished gem It reminds us to meet and befriend our neighboursall of them
Lawrence Hill author ofThe 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 ofUnreconciled 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 ofGod 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
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Details
Dimensions:
160 Pages
8in * 5in * .5in
200.00gr
Published:
March 11, 2025
Publisher:
ISBN:
9781771966269
Book Subjects:
Language:
eng
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