Into The Lives Of Urban Fiction Writers

By Rena Hudson


Also known as urban street literature, this genre first developed during the eighties and has gained prominence in the last few years producing a generation of writers who have started a genre on the real life in an city setting. Many urban fiction writers feel they need to express themselves by writing about their real life experiences which include sex, violence and drugs. Some authors who have experienced poverty and drug abuse, choose to illustrate these social issues to the public.

Street literature has become stereotypically associated with the African American community, although, recently, it is also growing amongst other communities around the globe and therefore categories such as French street fiction and Brazilian street fiction exist in this genre. They all have something common as authors in these categories write about the social issues in the inner city which have become a universal problem. Writers of French urban fiction for example, often depict the harsh life as an immigrant in a new country.

Some religious communities have also opened their world before readers in this genre. Christian and Islamic urban fiction has achieved popularity as they represent the religious life and culture in the inner city. Maryam Sullivan, a writer of the Islamic street fiction category exposes the lives of the American Muslim community in the city.

Hip hop music has been a great influence on street literature and artists like Tupac Shakur used poetry to depict the dark side of life of the city by tackling issues such as race and poverty. Due to the growing fame of hip hop music during the nineties, the reputation of street literature started increasing more and more novelists were distributing their novels.

The genre of contemporary street literature has helped pave the way for authors who wanted to reveal their stories of crime which eventually lead them to life behind bars. While in prison writers such as Kiki Swinson preferred to begin a career as a novelist in order to escape their criminal life and found it to be a major success.

For many authors in this genre, it was hard to receive exposure as they were turned down by various publishing companies who did not find their work fit for the right audience. The publishing industry was unaware that a new genre was emerging and gaining much popularity by its own readers.

Basing them on stereotypes, the publishing industry often views inner city literature as belonging solely to the African American community. As a result, authors who found no other way to distribute their novel, decided to open their own publishing company and self publish their books thus opening a platform for other growing writers in this genre.

With the availability of social networking and the emergence of electronic books, contemporary urban fiction writers found a gateway to support their work and began advertising their novels. This found to be successful as they could get closer contact with their readers. The authors are able to express themselves through their work by conveying the reality of their life in the inner city and by helping others who can relate with their stories.




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