Urban fiction
Encyclopedia
Urban fiction, also known as Street lit, is a literary genre
set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban
setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity, sex, and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction.
was (and largely still is) a genre written by and for African Americans. In his famous essay “The Souls of Black Folk
,” W. E. B. Du Bois discussed how a veil separated the African American community from the outside world. By extension, fiction written by people outside the African American culture could not (at least with any degree of verisimilitude) depict the people, settings, and events experienced by people in that culture. Try as some might, those who grew up outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) simply could not write fiction truly grounded in inner-city and African American life.
movement, a jailed Black man named Robert Beck took the pen name Iceberg Slim
and wrote Pimp, a dark, gritty tale of life in the inner-city underworld. While the book contained elements of the Black Power agenda, it was most notable for its unsparing depiction of street life. Iceberg Slim wrote many other novels and attained an international following. Some of the terminology he used in his books crossed over into the lexicon of Black English
. Other writers included Donald Goines and, notably, Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land, which was published in 1965. Also published that year was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Because this non-fictional read captured the realistic nature of African American urban life for coming-of-age young men, the book has consistently served as a standard for reading among African American teenaged boys.
exploded in popularity, with harsh, gritty stories such as "The Message" and "Dopeman," set to a driving, strident drum-kit
rhythm. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards, griot
s or troubadour
s telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written form. One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur
, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and is undeniably an author of urban fiction in lyrical form. Shakur also wrote a book of poetry called The Rose That Grew From Concrete.
Hip Hop lit in print form, though, is thriving. Non-fiction books from players in the hip hop realm such as Russell Simmons
, Kevin Liles
, LL Cool J
, and FUBU
founder Daymond John
are also filed in this genre. Carmen Bryant and Karrine Steffans
have both written blockbuster books for this audience, as has shock jock Wendy Williams
. Both Steffans and emcee 50 Cent
had such success with their books that they were given their own imprints to usher in similar authors. 50 Cent
's G-Unit Books
adds a legitimacy to a fictional genre that was previously disregarded.
, who published the novel Flyy Girl in 1993. However, it really gained momentum in 1999 with Sister Souljah
's bestseller The Coldest Winter Ever
. For good or ill, her books gained publicity based on comments she made during an interview that some took out of context and interpreted as advocating the killing of white people. Teri Woods's True to the Game was also published in 1999. Along with Souljah's Coldest Winter, these three novels are considered classics in the renaissance of the genre.
Other writers of urban fiction include Jeff Rivera, Vikki Stringer, Shannon Holmes, Mallori McNeal
, Miasha, TN Baker, Solomon Jones, K'wan Foye, Anthony Whyte, Erick Gray, Nikki Turner, Big Rob Ruiz, the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond, J.Gail, and Pamela M. Johnson, the latter of whom is becoming known in urban-fiction circles for bootstrapping
a single novel sold from the trunk of her car into a publishing company and press. Other notable urban-fiction writers include Kole Black
, author of The Chance She Took, which was released 2007, and The Risk of Chance, which was released 2008 by Spaulden Publishing. In 2009, the first known urban Islamic fiction
novel The Size of a Mustard Seed by Maryam “Umm Juwayriyah” Sullivan was published. Feeling the absence of stories like her own, Sullivan created her novel as a natural evolution of urban fiction, portraying the lives of multi-generational, inner-city American Muslims of various and blended backgrounds.
In less than a decade, urban fiction has experienced a renaissance that boasts hundreds of titles. The newest wave of street fiction is urban Latino fiction novels such as Devil's Mambo by Jerry Rodriguez and Jeff Rivera
's Forever My Lady.
There is also an unexpected literary wave to hip-hop fiction and street lit, which was sparked by Sister Souljah. Authors with a book or books in this offering include Sofia Quintero of the Black Artemis Novels; E-Fierce, also known as Elisha Miranda; Heru Ptah; Ferentz Lafargue; Saul Williams
; Abiola Abrams
; Felicia Pride; Marcella Runell Hall; and Martha Diaz. These are hip hop lit or street lit books that take a more literary approach using metaphor, signifying and other literary devices. These books may also be used in socially redeeming or classroom capacities, while maintaining love and positivity for the music and the hip hop culture.
With this new wave of renaissance street lit comes a whole new ballgame when it comes to promotion and exposure. Aside from hand-to-hand sales, which seems to work best in a genre where word-of-mouth has proven to be worth more than any large ad campaign, the Internet has increased the authors and publishers the ability to reach out to the genre's readers. With Internet savvy, many self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God and Cold Summer Afternoon, both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh voice in African American fiction.
From online book groups and Web sites such as QBR, RawSistaz, Urban Reviews, and Coast 2 Coast Readers to e-zines such as The Urban Book Source, Internet sites geared toward Urban readers are making themselves felt and can often make the difference between a bestseller and a book that shouldn’t have ever been printed.
Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, Kole Black
, and Relentless Aaron are known for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene. In recent years, these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by penning the musicians' real-life stories.
Many of these titles are published by independent houses, and the ones from those houses are known for their lack of copy editing
. However, the mainstream publishing industry is starting to recognize the genre's potential and is signing many of these authors to contracts.
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity, sex, and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction.
Genesis and historical forces behind urban fiction
Urban fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
was (and largely still is) a genre written by and for African Americans. In his famous essay “The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history....
,” W. E. B. Du Bois discussed how a veil separated the African American community from the outside world. By extension, fiction written by people outside the African American culture could not (at least with any degree of verisimilitude) depict the people, settings, and events experienced by people in that culture. Try as some might, those who grew up outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) simply could not write fiction truly grounded in inner-city and African American life.
The first generation of urban fiction
In the 1970s, during the culmination of the Black PowerBlack Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
movement, a jailed Black man named Robert Beck took the pen name Iceberg Slim
Iceberg Slim
Iceberg Slim aka Robert Beck was a reformed pimp and American author of urban fiction.-Early life:Born Robert Lee Maupin, in Chicago on August 4, 1918, he spent his childhood in Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois until he returned to Chicago...
and wrote Pimp, a dark, gritty tale of life in the inner-city underworld. While the book contained elements of the Black Power agenda, it was most notable for its unsparing depiction of street life. Iceberg Slim wrote many other novels and attained an international following. Some of the terminology he used in his books crossed over into the lexicon of Black English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
. Other writers included Donald Goines and, notably, Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land, which was published in 1965. Also published that year was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Because this non-fictional read captured the realistic nature of African American urban life for coming-of-age young men, the book has consistently served as a standard for reading among African American teenaged boys.
Hip Hop Lit: Hip Hop Music as an Urban Ballad
During the 1980s and early 1990s, urban fiction in print experienced a decline. However, one could make a cogent argument that urban tales simply moved from print to music, as hip hop musicHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
exploded in popularity, with harsh, gritty stories such as "The Message" and "Dopeman," set to a driving, strident drum-kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
rhythm. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards, griot
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
s or troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written form. One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and is undeniably an author of urban fiction in lyrical form. Shakur also wrote a book of poetry called The Rose That Grew From Concrete.
Hip Hop lit in print form, though, is thriving. Non-fiction books from players in the hip hop realm such as Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
, Kevin Liles
Kevin Liles
Kevin Liles is an American record executive. Liles was president of Def Jam Recordings and executive vice president of The Island Def Jam Music Group from 1999 to 2004...
, LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, and FUBU
FUBU
FUBU is a clothing company. It includes casual wear, sports wear, a suit collection, eyewear, belts, and shoes for the African-American community in the sense of economic investment but not to be exclusively worn by African Americans...
founder Daymond John
Daymond John
Daymond John is an American entrepreneur, investor, fashion designer, television personality, and motivational speaker...
are also filed in this genre. Carmen Bryant and Karrine Steffans
Karrine Steffans
Karrine Steffans is an American author, most notably of the Vixen series of books. She has worked as an actress and as a hip hop model, having appeared in more than 20 music videos, many by multiplatinum-selling rap artists...
have both written blockbuster books for this audience, as has shock jock Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams (radio host)
Wendy Williams Hunter is an American media personality and New York Times bestselling author. She calls herself the "Queen Of All Media" and hosts her own syndicated talk show, The Wendy Williams Show. Williams has gained notoriety for her on-air spats with celebrities...
. Both Steffans and emcee 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
had such success with their books that they were given their own imprints to usher in similar authors. 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's G-Unit Books
G-Unit Books
G-Unit Books is an imprint started by rapper 50 Cent on January 4, 2007. He launched his G-Unit Books imprint at the Time Warner Building in New York. He also co-wrote The Ski Mask Way, a novel about a small-time drug dealer who attempts to rob his employers...
adds a legitimacy to a fictional genre that was previously disregarded.
The new wave of urban fiction
Toward the end of the 1990s, urban fiction experienced a revival, as demand for novels authentically conveying the urban experience increased, and new business models enabled fledgling writers to more easily bring a manuscript to market. One of the first writers in this new cycle of urban fiction was Omar TyreeOmar Tyree
- Biography :Tyree was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and graduated from Central High School in 1987; after which he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied to become a pharmacist, like his mother....
, who published the novel Flyy Girl in 1993. However, it really gained momentum in 1999 with Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She gained prominence for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
's bestseller The Coldest Winter Ever
The Coldest Winter Ever
The Coldest Winter Ever is a best-selling 1999 novel written by MC and activist Sister Souljah.-Plot summary:Set in the projects of Brooklyn, New York, The Coldest Winter Ever is the story of Winter Santiaga , the rebellious, pampered teenage daughter of a notorious drug dealer...
. For good or ill, her books gained publicity based on comments she made during an interview that some took out of context and interpreted as advocating the killing of white people. Teri Woods's True to the Game was also published in 1999. Along with Souljah's Coldest Winter, these three novels are considered classics in the renaissance of the genre.
Other writers of urban fiction include Jeff Rivera, Vikki Stringer, Shannon Holmes, Mallori McNeal
Mallori McNeal
Mallori McNeal is an African American urban fiction author from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her debut novel, A Down Chick, was released in 2005. McNeal began writing A Down Chick at age 14, during the summer before she began her first year in high school. She completed A Down Chick and was signed to Triple...
, Miasha, TN Baker, Solomon Jones, K'wan Foye, Anthony Whyte, Erick Gray, Nikki Turner, Big Rob Ruiz, the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond, J.Gail, and Pamela M. Johnson, the latter of whom is becoming known in urban-fiction circles for bootstrapping
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping or booting refers to a group of metaphors that share a common meaning: a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help....
a single novel sold from the trunk of her car into a publishing company and press. Other notable urban-fiction writers include Kole Black
Kole Black
Kole Black is an African-American screenwriter and author. He is the co-creator of Over The Rhine: The Series, a crime drama that centers around a Cincinnati police officer in the homicide unit who is investigating a series of brutal slayings in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood...
, author of The Chance She Took, which was released 2007, and The Risk of Chance, which was released 2008 by Spaulden Publishing. In 2009, the first known urban Islamic fiction
Islamic fiction
Islamic fiction is written by and for Muslims as it expounds and illustrates an Islamic world view in its plot and characters. Islamic fiction excludes vulgar language and explicit depictions of sexuality; as well it aims to identify non-Islamic practices as such, portraying Muslims as striving to...
novel The Size of a Mustard Seed by Maryam “Umm Juwayriyah” Sullivan was published. Feeling the absence of stories like her own, Sullivan created her novel as a natural evolution of urban fiction, portraying the lives of multi-generational, inner-city American Muslims of various and blended backgrounds.
In less than a decade, urban fiction has experienced a renaissance that boasts hundreds of titles. The newest wave of street fiction is urban Latino fiction novels such as Devil's Mambo by Jerry Rodriguez and Jeff Rivera
Jeff Rivera
Jeff Rivera , is an American novelist who writes books targeted at young adults. His most recent work, Forever My Lady, was released by Warner Books in July 2007...
's Forever My Lady.
There is also an unexpected literary wave to hip-hop fiction and street lit, which was sparked by Sister Souljah. Authors with a book or books in this offering include Sofia Quintero of the Black Artemis Novels; E-Fierce, also known as Elisha Miranda; Heru Ptah; Ferentz Lafargue; Saul Williams
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
; Abiola Abrams
Abiola Abrams
Abiola Abrams is an American TV host, internet personality, art filmmaker, and author. She is the author of Dare, a love story retelling of Faust set in the hip hop world and creator of a lifestyle blog and web video series at AbiolaTV.com....
; Felicia Pride; Marcella Runell Hall; and Martha Diaz. These are hip hop lit or street lit books that take a more literary approach using metaphor, signifying and other literary devices. These books may also be used in socially redeeming or classroom capacities, while maintaining love and positivity for the music and the hip hop culture.
With this new wave of renaissance street lit comes a whole new ballgame when it comes to promotion and exposure. Aside from hand-to-hand sales, which seems to work best in a genre where word-of-mouth has proven to be worth more than any large ad campaign, the Internet has increased the authors and publishers the ability to reach out to the genre's readers. With Internet savvy, many self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God and Cold Summer Afternoon, both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh voice in African American fiction.
From online book groups and Web sites such as QBR, RawSistaz, Urban Reviews, and Coast 2 Coast Readers to e-zines such as The Urban Book Source, Internet sites geared toward Urban readers are making themselves felt and can often make the difference between a bestseller and a book that shouldn’t have ever been printed.
Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, Kole Black
Kole Black
Kole Black is an African-American screenwriter and author. He is the co-creator of Over The Rhine: The Series, a crime drama that centers around a Cincinnati police officer in the homicide unit who is investigating a series of brutal slayings in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood...
, and Relentless Aaron are known for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene. In recent years, these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by penning the musicians' real-life stories.
Many of these titles are published by independent houses, and the ones from those houses are known for their lack of copy editing
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
. However, the mainstream publishing industry is starting to recognize the genre's potential and is signing many of these authors to contracts.
Authors of urban fiction
- Dwan Abrams
- Takerra Allen
- T. N. Baker
- Kole BlackKole BlackKole Black is an African-American screenwriter and author. He is the co-creator of Over The Rhine: The Series, a crime drama that centers around a Cincinnati police officer in the homicide unit who is investigating a series of brutal slayings in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood...
- Tracy Brown
- Jordan Charles
- Chunichi
- Rasheed Clark
- Wahida Clark
- JaQuavis Coleman
- Renea Collins
- Keshia Dawn
- L. Divine
- Clifton Dutton
- Keisha Ervin
- Nina FoxxNina FoxxNina Foxx is an American author, playwright and filmmaker. She has authored seven novels, co-authored one text on writing, and her work has been anthologized multiple times. She has also penned two stage plays including original music with collaborator John Forbes. Marrying UP toured several...
- Treasure Hernandez
- Erick S. Gray
- Tia Hines
- Shannon Holmes
- La Jill Hunt
- JihadJihadJihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
- Antonne M. Jones
- Janice Jones
- Solomon JonesSolomon JonesSolomon Jones was a doctor, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in New Jersey, America around 1756 and the family later moved to New York state. He studied medicine in Albany; at the start of the American Revolution, he became a surgeon's mate in Edward Jessup's Loyal Rangers...
- Deja King
- K'wan
- Paul Langan (Bluford series)
- Michelle Larks
- Darien Lee
- Sherri L. Lewis
- Thomas LongThomas LongThomas Long was an Ontario merchant and political figure. He represented Simcoe West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Conservative from 1875 to 1883....
- LukeLukeLuke is a male given name, and less commonly, a surname.The name Luke is derived from the Latin name , from an Ancient Greek , meaning "man from Lucania". The earliest known recording of the name is from the Bible, The Gospel of Luke, which was written around AD 70 to 90, and it is from here...
- Victor L. Martin
- Miasha
- Walter Dean MyersWalter Dean MyersWalter Dean Myers is an African American author of young adult literature. Myers has written over fifty books, including novels and nonfiction works. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors five times...
- Noire
- Kendra Norman-BellamyKendra Norman-BellamyKendra Norman-Bellamy is an African American writer of Christian fiction and non-fiction Christian literature. Her novels are known for their positive male lead characters and their combined romantic and suspenseful storylines....
- Eric PeteEric PeteEric Pete is an African American author who writes novels and short stories.He was born in Seattle, Washington at University of Washington hospital. He is a graduate of McNeese State University and a U.S. Army veteran. He is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, professional business fraternity...
- Gary PhillipsGary PhillipsGary Phillips is a retired football goalkeeper who was last attached to Hemel Hempstead Town as manager.He started his career as a schoolboy at Southampton before moving to non-League Chalfont St Peter in 1978. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion the same year. Phillips joined West Bromwich Albion...
- Daaimah S. Poole
- Sofia Quintero, aka Black Artemis
- SapphireSapphireSapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
- Anne E. Schraff (Bluford series)
- Teresa Seals
- Pat SimmonsPat SimmonsPat Simmons was the voice of the United Kingdom's Speaking Clock from 1963 until 1985.A supervisor at a London telephone exchange, in 1963 Simmons won a £500 competition to replace Jane Cain, whose voice had been used since the service began in 1936...
- Sister SouljahSister SouljahSister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She gained prominence for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
- T. Styles
- Vickie Stringer
- Nikki Turner
- K. Roland Williams
- KaShamba Williams
- LaTonya Williams
- Saul WilliamsSaul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
- Camille YarbroughCamille YarbroughCamille Yarbrough is an American musician, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author. She is perhaps best known for "Take Yo' Praise", which Fatboy Slim sampled from in his track "Praise You" in 1998. "Take Yo' Praise" was originally recorded in 1975 for Camille Yarbrough's first...
- ZaneZane (erotica author)Zane is an African American author of erotic fiction who has written over two dozen novels. She is best known for her novel Addicted. In 1997, Zane began writing erotic stories to pass the time after her children went to bed. She was living in North Carolina and working as a sales representative....
- Eyone Williams
- Nathan Welch
- Kwame "Dutch" Teague
- Darrell Debrew
- Kawand S. Crawford
- Nikida S. Taste
- J.M. Benjamin
External links
- Lit Up: Keisha Ervin's gritty tales of the St. Louis streets have made her one of the nation's hottest purveyors of urban fiction Riverfront TimesRiverfront TimesThe Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...
. April 2009. - Readers Embrace 'Ghetto Lit' Genre, National Public Radio Morning Edition, January 20, 2004.
- Publishing Company Called Out over 'Ghetto Lit', National Public Radio All Things Considered, October 12, 2007.
- New literary genre emerging from underground authors, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2003.
- Nick Chiles: Don't call this smut 'literature', Dallas News, January 8, 2006.
- StreetFiction.org: An Urban Fiction Review Web Site
Reading lists
Because this genre is very popular with urban teenagers, the following reading lists should prove to be helpful for educators and librarians.- Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 7, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland, P.L. - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 6, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 5, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland, P.L. - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 4, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 3, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland P.L. - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 2, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA - Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
. The Word on the Street No. 1, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland P.L. - Streetwise Urban Fiction, by David Wright, Seattle Public Library
- Urban/Street Lit For Public *Library Collections by Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
- Urban/Street Lit For School Library Collections by Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
- Urban/Street Fiction Title/Author List by Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
- African American Book Club Urban/Street Fiction List
- Crazy Quilts Blog with Urban Lit for School Library Collections by Edith Campbell, Arlington High School, Indianapolis, IN