Author/Pubber Markeise Washington on Urban/Street Fic @ AtBaP

For the month of February, All the Blog's a Page (AtBaP) is taking it to the streets - urban and street fiction, that is.

We conclude our features on urban/street fiction with Markeise Q. Washington, author of Entrepreneur and owner of 5ive Star Publications!












For February, I asked the following set of questions:
**What does urban/street fiction mean to you? Is there a distinction between urban and street?
**Of all the genres present, what drew you to write urban/street fiction?
**What has been - if any - some of the positive and negative comments you have received from readers?
**In the branch of Black literature, what do you think urban/street fiction brings to the table?




In answering the question, What does urban/street fiction mean to you? Is there a distinction between urban and street, Washingston stated, "There has been so much debate over these two little words that it's utterly ridiculous. I hate that we get put in a category, period. I was in Borders the other day looking for the African-American section. The reason I couldn't find it was the black slots that say African American were taken down. I guess they classify street as dealing with drugs, prostitution, hustling, slang, etc. Any neighborhood can be considered urban. Here's the definition- "characteristic of or accustomed to cities; citified." So that means anybody that has lived in a city for a period of time is-you guessed it-urban. To me there is no distinction because literature is literature. Another thing that bothers me is that question that black authors get asked: "Do you plan to write that genre forever?" It has yet to be answered honestly. I haven't heard an author say well no I plan to write street lit until my arm falls off. Authors should write what makes them happy and hope they build a fan base that sticks with them. I don't want to read a romance novel by Teri Woods. I love the style she already has."




To read the rest of Markeise Q. Washington's thoughts on street/urban fiction and to read an excerpt from Entrepreneur, head to All the Blog's a Page!



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