To. A book i am rereading. I am also reading a book at the National Gallery a week or so ago called the accidental masterpiece. It is about how you see art and to me i am a great lover of art, every day objects, everywhere you look. An interesting book i picked up. You see by my office, i do my own art. And keep my day job here. Reading, i want to mention, is foundational. I was not born in this country. English is not my first language. I credit a library and in Elementary School who awakened my love of reading and i remember the book, those who sit at her feet at the library and she read is mary poppins. That brought the love of reading for me which was foundational. You should be a reader. I am a pretty voracious reader. Anything else you are reading this summer . I picked up i read as a new yorker compilation, short stories on the ipad, those are things i can read and when i have time, as i said, i have a number of those books on my ipad. The other thing i want to mention is often when you think of the books that change your way of thinking there is one book that did that for me when i was in college. The feminine mystique, a light bulb went on when i read that book and i decided maybe my life was not going to consist of getting married and having children and having that life expanding my own horizons. I can honestly say that is the one book that designed my way of thinking of myself. Brandeis booktv wants to know what youre thinking, two is your answer at booktv or posted on our facebook page, facebook. Com booktv. You are watching booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Here is a look at what is on prime time tonight. We kick off the evening at 7 15 eastern with colorado governor john hicken looper. That all happens tonight on cspan2s booktv. Now the 18th annual harlem book fair in new york city. Coming up over the next three hours panels on diversity and publishing and race in america. First, harlem book fair founder Max Rodriguez kicks off this years book fair followed by a ms. Elizabeth nunez discussing the state of literature and black writers. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us for the harlem book fair. [applause] thank you so much. For us to continue building sustainable, useful cultural institutions. Anything else that is projected onto us or projected about us. Oftentimes when we have no place else to go, the only thing we can do is live on the state, in the state in which its imposed on us. What eastern to that . Whats the alternative to that . There we are clearly empowered. And that is the work of the harlem book fair, to stand a place, stand in a place from which we can name ourselves, we can set our direction, we can talk about our points of view. [audio difficulty] in the space of collaborative partnerships, at the book fair youll enjoy a program, at least you will meet the cast of a program that weve launched. Its a video, its an Online Video Program where four women discuss the books, the themes that are current in books that are available today, and well discuss them. Much like a book club, much more intimate, much more real. And thats manager that we have produce thats something we have produced in collaboration with work with studios, my partner in this venture, qbr media, and also another program, writers on writing. Sort of like a charlie rose type of interview. Oneonone. Just bringing our work to the forefront because we can. Because we can. Because we have voice [audio difficulty] next year we are launching a book festival in fort be worth, texas fort worth, texas. Were excited about that. This year no, not this year but, actually, next week we have a program that will take place at the metropolitan museum of art. Another host partner, its called black in the world, where we bring together authors from the diaspora to talk about what life looks like through books from where they are, africa, the u. K. , the caribbean, brazil, the united states. Black in the world. And then lastly, next year we are partnering with the gambia to launch a book festival there. Thats going to be in january. Therell be a lot of promotion on that. Youre all invited to come. Put your 10 a week away and be a guest of the harlem book fair as we launch the festival in the gambia. I guess in a nutshell, you know, thats it, thats the work. This is our story. Theres no reason well, ill say this, bad language, theres no reason for us to sit on our heels, to be pulled back on our heels. Yes, of course, there is, but we have a place to go beyond that. And that is in your life, in your story, in your story being told. Were going to start today with something we start every year, the state of black writing. And our guest today, our harlem book fair author is elizabeth nunez. My la tee owe comes out latino comes out in me, right . Nunez. She is a New York Times bestselling author. Her most current books are even in paradise. Her memoir is not for everyday use a memoir. She has seven books more. Ten books, ten books, many of hem New York Times bestsellers. And shes going to talk about literature by black writers. Who are readers . Theres always a conversation about who is there to read our books. This is that conversation. I want to tell you a little bit about elizabeth though. Elizabeth is currently a distinguished professor at hunter college, City University of new york. We met when she was teaching at medgar evers college. Elizabeth is the founder of the National Black writers conference that happens every year at medgar evers college. And elizabeth is the founder of that event. She asked me to come in to support her in her work, and from that point on we have been kindred spirits, you know . Shes an amazing writer, an amazing voice, passionate about writing, passionate about work, passionate about our stories. Lastly, i want to acknowledge you, the audience, and especially the younger of us in the audience. I want you to know that, that one day you can be here as a writer, as a speaker, you know . You have voice. You dont have to condition your voice. You dont have to qualify your voice. Be your voice. Be your voice and let that lead you. Id like to take a moment to thank you very much, so lets begin the book fair. Elizabeth . [applause] [inaudible conversations] thank you for being here. I want to thank Max Rodriguez. As he said, we began collaborating maybe 20 years ago when we were each 12 years old, right, max . When i was doing the National Black writers conference and max joined me. He is a good friend. My mentor, john oliver kilns, who cofounded the conference with me, used to talk about Long Distance runners. He would say you can make a sprint, but whos the guy who can go all the way . And max is a Long Distance runner. Hes a visionary. Hes remained focused on his goal. And as he said, this is the 18th time hes doing this book festival and has done for in more other for many other events as he has described. So i want to sort of im going to name my topic. My topic is literature by black writers. Who are the readers . Who are the readers of literature by black writers . I want to start with a disclaimer. I was speaking to max, and i said, you know, max be, i dont want this panel to be called black literature who are the readers . And that difference is important to me, and i want to tell you why. It is because i dont buy into the theory that there is a genre called black literature. I believe there is only wellwritten literature or badlywritten literature. And we can debate whats good and whats well written and whats not so well written at another time. But as for the genres of literature, there are categories like romance, history, epic, tragedy, comedy, satire, etc. , etc. And as far as i know, black writers write books that include all those genres. Black writers write books that are history, epic be, romance, tragedy, comedy, satire, etc. The argument that because the writers are black and because their topics are generally about the black experience, one could thus conclude that that constitutes a genre called black literature. I believe this kind of thinking leads us down a rabbit hole to which there is no exit or else a perniciously dangerous exit. Indeed, such thinking impacts directly on the question of what it means to be human. Let me clarify. Black writers are not a special brand of human being, and the black characters they write about are not a special brand of human beings. They are all simply and wonderfully human. The paragon of animals. So to speak directly to my topic, why do so many assume that books by black writers are of interest only to black readers . Take a tour of any major bookstore, and youll see what i mean. Youll see there are special sections for books that are africanamerican interests, and then there are other sections of in the bookstores that are categorized according to their subjects or according to their authors. Recently i went into one of these big bookstores, and you can guess which one, and right in front of the store were two huge tables labeled africanamerican interests. I saw books by some major black writers including books by marlon james who won last years book award. The store was crowded, but the only people around those tables, africanamerican interests, were black people. What is one to assume . Let me say right away as a disclaimer that i believe bookstores think theyre doing something right. Theyre doing something good by creating sections based on the race of the writer, in this case black writers. They believe theyre providing a special place for black writers so that those who may be interested in books by black writers who they assume would only be black readers can find these books conveniently. Let me also say that publishers target and this is the dangerous part publishers target their marketing and distribution dollars to black readers for the very same reason. But here is the problem. Bookstores and publishers do this because their assumptions are based on their concept of the word. And their concept of the word is based on the word in which the world in which they live where they rarely have occasion to interact with black readers. For the fact is, the Publishing Industry is a white industry. 79 of the overall Publishing Industry is white. And by that i mean the publishers, the editors, the agents, the publicists, the book reviewers, the distributers, the booksellers. 79 is white. And thats not my statistics, by the way. That is Publishers Weekly a statistics that came out in march of this year. What is more dangerous is that 82 of the editorial departments and the editorial departments are the departments that decide which books are going to be published and which distributed. 82 of the editorial departments in this country are white. In her recent book mounting frustrations the art museums in the age of black power, the writer susan cahan makes a similar observation about art museums where there are few africanamerican curators or even white curators who have knowledge of art by black artists. The result is, she says, that art by people of color is often shown in marginal spaces. As im saying about bookstores. One person exhibitions are the preferred method of showing the work of minority artists. As they provide curators a way to avoid engaging with the problems of complicated, interlocking histories. Is that what the Publishing Industry and some readers fear . Do they fear that books by black writers will force white readers to engage with problems of americas complicated and interlocking histories of its treatment of black americans . New research has revealed that slavery in america was not limited to the south, and theres a new book out i dont have the name right at the top of my head that shows that new england puritans had slaves x theres a direct link and theres a direct link between the profits of slavery and the emergence of northernties including, yes, new york city. This is tough information to digest. In my memoir, not for everyday use, i call about a colleague of mine whose father had come to america from Eastern Europe when he was a young adult. Maybe be, i think maybe 20 or so. My colleague argues that her fathers success was unrelated to americas treatment of its black citizens. Neither he, nor his family members were in america during slavery times, he says, nor in jim crow times, nor during the civil rights movement. Then i reminded my friend about how her father managed to accumulate close to a Million Dollars for his children. You see, two decades ago my grandfather and my ex ex were bh looking to purchase a house in long island with a view of the water. My ex was shown a house on long beach road. Beach was the operative word that the realtor used to persuade my ex. The realtor did not add the long part meant there was a long way to the beach. [laughter] but he took my friend to a canal, to a house on a canal. My friends father could not afford beach, but he took him to a house that faced the canal. Both my ex and my friends father paid 34,000 more their houses. Long, long time ago. They sold their houses not too long ago. My ex got 174,000 for his house. My friends father got close to a Million Dollars. The history of american racism, you see, has long tentacles. Giving economic advantage even to recent white immigrants who benefit from racism even if they themselves were not there during those periods. So, but books by black writers not only engage white readers with the consequences of americas interlocking history of its treatment of black americans, but they also provide a mirror in which we can all recognize our common humanity. Like all writers, black writers focus on the specifics because they know that by drilling down on the specifics of their characters, they will arrive at the truth about all human condition. What is it to love, what is it to lose love, what is it to hope, what is it to despair. Black writers write these topics, but more often than not they explore these topics to the facets of the human condition, to the through characters who are black. So heres the challenge for me. The challenge for the predominantly white Publishing Industry is to accept that truth. That means that the players in the industry should market books by black writers not as books that should appeal only to black readers, but rather as books that have universal appeal, that can give us a window to the challenges that all human beings face. How to overcome fear, how to overcome despair, temptation, how to be our most loving severals. I see i have very little time, so im going to go almost to the end. I think much of the blame no be, im going to go a little bit before that. Theres a norwegian writer that everybody is reading lately, and he was trying to make sense of the slaughter of 75 children in norway. And he made this powerful statement. He said the most powerful human forces are to be found in the meeting of the faith and the gays. Only there do we exist for one another. In the gaze of the other, we become. It is there, too, that we can be destroyed. Being unseen is devastating and so is not seeing. I think much of the blame for the recent racial tensions we are experiencing today is because we live an experienced life in silos. There are laws that made segregation be illegal, yet our neighborhoods are segregated, our children go to schools both public and private that are segregated, we worship in churches that are segregated, our social venues are segregated. And you could say none of this is intentional. People just feel more comfortable with others like themselves. But witness the consequences. How is it that only now White America seems to realize what black parents have known for ages, that their black sons could die simply for driving black or for being black in the wrong place at the wrong time. Books by black writers about black characters give us access to the experiences, to the black experiences in the black world. Books by black writers allow us tos to access the faith and gaze of black people. Books by black writers give all peoples of the to world a chance to see themselves in the face and gaze of others. Books by black writers allow us to see our common humanity and, thus, to break down barriers that separate us. I was struck by the conclusion of tanehisi coates, the conclusion he comes to in his remarkable book, between the world and me. He does not exonerate Rogue Police Officers who kill innocent young men. But this is what he does he blames the legacy of americas history for endowing Police Departments with the authority to destroy the black body. Books by black writers offer america the opportunity to revisit that history through the lens of black characters, to see the south through the eyes of the other, to recognize and acknowledge our common humanity. And so, defuse the possibility of more violence, winding the path to a more humane world. Without books by black writers and a diversity of readers who read them not simply black readers, but white readers, all readers there is a grim possibility of the warning of the consequences of not being seen and not seeing, and it okay. Can you hear me . No. I think you need your mic. Hello . Try it now. You hear me now . My father illustrated and wrote beautiful daughters, and my mother, who is also an artist, met my father in art and design high school. So, you know, what else would happen but have an artistic child . Thank you. Fantasia. Hello, everyone, can you hear he . [inaudible conversations] just keep talking . Okay. I am the head of teen services at the Public Library. [inaudible conversations] i see shaking heads. I could try to project my voice. This better . Okay. Im the head of teen services at the Public Library located in Nassau County out in the boonies of long island as some people view it. Im long island born and bred, raised in freeport. I know about long beach road [laughter] and the different parts of it. And ive been a teen librarian for close to 12 years now. So im responsible for fifth through twelfth graders who want to utilize our Public Library. Okay [inaudible] i wear many hats in the world of publishing. I have a firm called the literary Media Publishing consultants. We manage a lot of major africanamerican authors, and two of them are he