Tayari's Blog: Newsweek Remembers Bebe... sort of

Posted by TayariJones on December 3, 2006 10:03 PM
Filed under The Writing Life

There is something resembling an obituary to Bebe Moore Campbell in the newest Newsweek. The Newsweek piece, called Will Sleaze Dominate Black Publishing, laments that writers like Campbell are less popular than authors of non-fiction tell-alls such as Karrine Stephans.

I have to say that I have had enough of this particular narrative.

I am not disputing that racy, celebrity laden books like Confessions of a Video Vixen outsell literary novels. Instead, I am getting sick of the way that commercial writers are set up as the antagonists of literary novelists. I don't think that I'm going too far in left field to wonder why this seems to be a discussion waged far more often when it comes to African American literature.

The Newsweek article follows LaTisha James ,who enters a Waldenbooks store looking for the latest in "groupie lit." Latisha had never heard of Bebe Moore Campbell. Despite the implications of the narrative, I am not sure if I am ready to see this as the beginning of the end of African American literature. Afterall, LaTisha James is only fourteen years old.

Newsweek probably considers itself to be honoring Bebe Moore Campbell with this "where have all the flowers gone" article, but I would say that it diminishes the achievements of Bebe Moore Campbell's wonderful career.

Bebe Moore Campbell started publishing at age 41. In a mere fifteen years, she wrote several best-selling books. (By this I mean New York Times bestselling.) Her session at the National Black Book Club Conference was standing room only. Just a few days later, in the same city, she packed the Barnes and Noble bookstore. My point here is that Bebe Moore Campbell was not a writer who languished in obscurity because all the black folks were too busy reading "sleaze". At the news of her passing, tributes sprang up all over the blogosphere. Bebe Moore Campbell didn't just have readers, she had fans.

As a literary novelist myself, I often find myself annoyed by interviewers who try and force me to say something unkind about black writers who do not write the type of literature that I do. The interviewer may something like, "So what do you think about all the new street literature that is nothing but sex and violence?" or "What do you think about the way that African American lit has gone downhill?" (I should also add that there is another question in this family: "How do you feel about chick-lit?") I decided a long time ago that I would never seek to define myself or my writing by denigrating other writers that share my demographic(s).

I wish Newsweek had found a way to memorialize Bebe Moore Campbell, without setting up an unproductive dichotomy between "serious" and "sleaze". This benefits no one and fails to do justice to Bebe's memory. After all, how can we forget that one of the themes of her work is finding common ground?


thx, carleen for the Newsweek link.

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There are 2 comments on "Newsweek Remembers Bebe... sort of". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.

Comment #1, by carleen [TypeKey Profile Page]

Thanks for the thoughtful post on this topic. I'm afraid sometimes I publish too quickly before saying all that I mean to say about something. I agree: it's not helpful to pit writers against each other (or readers against each other). And I certainly don't ever mean to set myself up as an "artiste." My tastes and my talents are far less grand than that. I just wanted to make the point that I think the picture is less dismal than Newsweek was trying to make it. Like all audiences, black folks read across the spectrum. Thanks for the linkage!

December 3, 2006 10:57 PM

Comment #2, by J. [TypeKey Profile Page]

you're right, commercial novelists aren't the antagonists of literary writers; corporate publishng and its cookie-cutter, bottom-line, Cosmo magazine-style model of doing business is the bottom line.

and i agree that this was a terrible way to remember Bebe Moore Campbell.

December 4, 2006 08:53 AM

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