Call & Response: Help Me Share Your Literary Concerns with Maxine Hong Kingston

How are you really feeling about the future of literary diversity?

I’m as tempted as you probably are to bury my head in my work and keep on writing as if life will always go on “as normal.” But not a single one of us can afford that fantasy. There is no normal anymore.

Dear Loreates,

This post is a little different. I’m writing specifically in the hope of hearing back from you.

On September 11 in San Francisco, I’ll be joining the venerable Maxine Hong Kingston, along with authors Pete Hsu and Lily Hoang, to discuss the impact of America’s current politics on marginalized writers, readers, and independent presses. The event, sponsored by Red Hen Press and the Commonwealth Club, is both online and in-person, and I’d love to relay your concerns and stories to Maxine and our audience.

Here are some of the questions we’ll be pondering:

• Without NEA funding, what is the fate of literary diversity in America?

• What can publishers do to prevent erasure of BIPOC perspectives?

• What impact might AI have on publishers’ perceptions of the “typical reader’s” et…