Write the novel you want to write, regardless of where it fits in
“It’s fascinating that explicit tales of men seducing other men should now sit on millions of bedside tables in the suburban bedrooms of heterosexual households the world over. On some level, it’s wonderful that stories of coming out, sexuality, and homophobia have been so openly welcomed into the mainstream, revealing thousands of allies in the process. Who am I to decide or judge who should write or read queer stories?”
I wrote a piece for Publishers Weekly’s BookLife supplement about the tyranny of genre, why I chose to self-publish and who gets to tell queer stories.
If you’re curious you can read the full piece here: http://bit.ly/levihuxton
I wrote a piece for Publishers Weekly’s BookLife supplement about the tyranny of genre, why I chose to self-publish and who gets to tell queer stories.
If you’re curious you can read the full piece here: http://bit.ly/levihuxton
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Márcio
(new)
Aug 31, 2021 04:27AM
I will be reading it and comment with you! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas, Levi!
reply
|
flag
A time ago, I watched and was deeply moved by a video of Ursula K. Le Guin receiving a medal from the National Book Foundation in the US (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf...). In a text by Neil Gaiman, he said that she advised him that she would say what she had to say when he asked her to be milder in her speech.As I read your thoughts in Booklife, I instantly thought of that speech, because you also talk about authorship and the freedom to write. I understand that there are people who need and crave labels, even in books. Yes, indeed, the American book market seems like one that profits much from it. It is a somehow way of marketing approach after all, and it spreads its wings all over the world, it seems. In Brazil, it seems that it is happening.
You see, yesterday I finished reading "Moffie" and I am still recollecting all the emotions and thoughts I had along the book to be able to write a review. It touched me pretty well. And how should I label it if i were to categorize it? War book? YA (those guys are hardly 19)? MM? Gay coming out story? Autobiography?
I understand that editorial houses need ways to market their "products", but all in all, there is more and more need from them to create commodities than literary work and there is a huge difference here because those follow an editor need in the form of a book; these, in the other hand, are results of authorship.
A philosophical, or erotic, or warship, or juvenile, or fictional, etc., kind of book, in my humble way of seeing the world and what I crave for, are literary works, a book that I can feel the authorship, the joy of telling a story (even if the story is not joyful), the author writing style, etc. For these, they make me feel like I am in front of a piece of art, and art shall not be understood only as high achievement, as high art, as Nobel-like or prize-like. It is an everyday way of human expression.
To finish it, I tell you the story of a Brazilian writer, Hilda Hilst. She started writing poetry around the 1950s, very beautiful, authorial, and intense poetry. And she was criticized for her poetry exactly because she didn't follow the literary movements of the time, After a time, in the 1960s she started writing fiction, but she continued to be criticized exactly because it was hard to read and understand (I have read some of them, they are as profound and beautiful as her poetry). With all of these critics, she would seldom sell books, though her work was known and commented. Till the beginning of the 1980s, when she usually says that she would change it altogether and give readers what they wanted (and in a catholic pious hypocritical country, slowly becoming a neo-pentecostal pious hypocritical country): pornography. Oh, my goodness! I have read the group of four of these books, and she still continued to do very intense authorial work. And she continued to be set aside because people said it was too pornographic, too scandalous. Today, about 20 years after her death, she is congregated and her work is studied and applauded. And one of the things that she always made clear is that she wrote what she meant to write. She had a famous phrase that reads like this: "I am out of my head when someone understands what I write".
Write freely, what comes from your soul and heart, Levi!, because first of all, writing and reaching others through literature is a human capability.
Hi Levi!I found the piece you wrote very interesting (meaning I agree with it 100%)
You worded your ideas in a very courteous way and I admire you for that. I would have probably been more aggressive regarding the "tyranny of the genre".
I had a look at the ratings and comments for The Lodger and they're very good which shows a lot of people don't need labels to appreciate a good book. I'm surprised so few people got the Pasolini reference but it's not necessary to enjoy the novel. I hope there's another coming soon.
P.S. @Marcio: Thank you for the link to the great video by the wonderful Ursula Le Guin.
Márcio wrote: "A time ago, I watched and was deeply moved by a video of Ursula K. Le Guin receiving a medal from the National Book Foundation in the US (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf...). In a text by ..."Hi Márcio, thanks for these lovely words in defense of the free spirit of authorship and its link to true creativity. Very well said, and I feel for the books that dont neatly fit in the labeled boxes that the industry needs to commodify literature.
I can see how Moffie might be one of those novels that risk losing readers - perhaps the very readers who would benefit most from reading it - by virtue of being reduced to a genre, South African literature, war novel, queer novel, etc.
As long as readers are willing to take risks and make new discoveries, I believe writers will find a way to connect, even if it means taking out the middle-men!
That Ursula Le Guin speech is fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
Pierre wrote: "Hi Levi!I found the piece you wrote very interesting (meaning I agree with it 100%)
You worded your ideas in a very courteous way and I admire you for that. I would have probably been more aggress..."
Thanks Pierre! I'm constantly surprised not only by the fact that readers are connecting with the book, but how diverse they are. And yes! Where are all the cinephiles and Pasolini fans??
