Recently, I went to several groups I belong to on Yahoo and asked the members about their reading interests, two of the most important questions being what they liked to read, and what they would like to see more of. I was a bit surprised, in a good way, by the responses. If a person were to look at how AA fiction is represented today, he/she might think that urban/street or erotica fiction were the only types we read. This is not to say that this is ALL there is, but it is to say that when something becomes hot, such as erotica and urban, the market begins to overfill itself with what's hot, often leaving readers of other genres to pick amongst the few not within those categories.
When asked about their favorite genres to read, readers' responses ran the gamut from poetry and self-help to horror and sci-fi. Most readers who responded marked MYSTERIES as their favorite genre, followed by suspense/thrillers, biography, romance, and erotica. Other genres mentioned include inspirational, Christian, historicals, paranormals, memoirs, fantasy, and literary.
The variety in genres was also evident in readers' responses to the question, "What genres would you like to see African American writers go into?" Many genres were mentioned, such as horror, sci-fi, spec fiction, action adventure (like Indiana Jones & Tomb Raider), poetry, horror, self-help, literary, historicals, westerns, and fantasy.
Many readers took the opportunity to explain their opinions on this question; one reader stated, "I would definitely like to see more African writers go into screenwriting for television shows and movies other than the comedy genre because we do have a lot of talented people who have something meaningful to say and show the world. I also would like to see better quality urban fiction novels. I'm not trying to knock nobody's hustle. However, I do think that these works could be so much better. I believe there are some writers who could give some of these other mystery writers a run for their money and land movie deals from their efforts."
The idea of "better quality" fiction was echoed by other readers who stated that they'd like to see better written African American erotica. Other readers took the idea of "better quality" and discussed their wish to have more fiction with depth--having developed characters and uncommon settings and working in fields that will open curiosity for readers.
The overall sentiment seemed to be the need to just see MORE African American writers in all areas of literature. As one reader stated, "I want to see them [African American writers] infiltrate into all areas not just relationships. I want more than Walter Mosley and Vincent Alexandria writing mysteries; some body along with Gregory Townes to fill Octavia Butler's shoes; and will the next Donald Goines please step to the plate?"
Some readers shared their opinions on why African American writers may not be as visible in some genres than in others. One reader said she felt African American writers could write about anything, and that she'd like to see writers become "more diverse in the kinds of fiction that we write and not get pigeonholed." A vocal reader, whose response seems to offer a rational for writers getting pigeonholed stated "AA critics can be one of the holding-back forces for some of the more adventuresome authors out there. There is still too many believing that "AA's ought to think a certain way." When I see statements like "unrealistic," "unbelieveable," I think the shortcomings are really in the critics' minds versus the writers. I guess I'm saying that if the "critics" would step outside their boxes and read more, we would see more writing in more genres." In the end, I can't help but to agree with this comment. It has to be believed, not only by critics but by those in the industry that African American fiction is as diversified and different as they many shades of our beautiful "blackness."
Ultimately, what can be taken away from the responses is African American readers want all the facets of the African American experience, and they want those facets to be well-written and interesting. When you think about it, that's not much to ask.
