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Belpre Award in Context: Status of Latino Literature in
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From: Marc Aronson <75664.3110>
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 17:24:38 -0500
What I publish is a direct response to what crosses my desk. I have been eager to find good YA writing that relates to the many different variaties of Hispanic/Latino experience in America. I see very, very little that fits that description. To reverse the question, where are the coming of age novels, the memoirs, the rich poetry collections that can give teen age readers entry into these fascinating lives? I hasten to add that I am not particularly interested in books that teach lessons or solve problems. I am solely focused on that literary side of the equation. So, for example, while I have nothing against writing about gangs, I've seen perhaps one urban, modern, non-gang related YA Hispanic novel. And believe me I have been looking.
But I also must add that as a person who has published a number of books in this area, I find the Belpre's focus on the ethnicity of the author to be not only misguided as an intellectual conceit but pernicious. It implies that these books should not be widely read. For if a non-Hispanic were to love the books, might she not want to go on to learn enough about the people she reads about to write about them herself? But if she does that, if she is such a great fan of Hispanic culture that it becomes her life's focus, she is excluded from winning the very prize that started her on her quest.
Finally, just as -- as I understand it -- some folks in the CSK community are questioning the terms of that award, adding another ethnic based award is going in exactly the wrong direction.
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 09 Mar 2000 04:24:38 PM CST
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 17:24:38 -0500
What I publish is a direct response to what crosses my desk. I have been eager to find good YA writing that relates to the many different variaties of Hispanic/Latino experience in America. I see very, very little that fits that description. To reverse the question, where are the coming of age novels, the memoirs, the rich poetry collections that can give teen age readers entry into these fascinating lives? I hasten to add that I am not particularly interested in books that teach lessons or solve problems. I am solely focused on that literary side of the equation. So, for example, while I have nothing against writing about gangs, I've seen perhaps one urban, modern, non-gang related YA Hispanic novel. And believe me I have been looking.
But I also must add that as a person who has published a number of books in this area, I find the Belpre's focus on the ethnicity of the author to be not only misguided as an intellectual conceit but pernicious. It implies that these books should not be widely read. For if a non-Hispanic were to love the books, might she not want to go on to learn enough about the people she reads about to write about them herself? But if she does that, if she is such a great fan of Hispanic culture that it becomes her life's focus, she is excluded from winning the very prize that started her on her quest.
Finally, just as -- as I understand it -- some folks in the CSK community are questioning the terms of that award, adding another ethnic based award is going in exactly the wrong direction.
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 09 Mar 2000 04:24:38 PM CST
