Craft and Conscience
How to Write About Social Issues
Kavita Das
- The
- first
- major
- book
- for
- writers
- to
- more
- effectively
- engage
- with
- complex
- socio-political
- issues—a
- critical
- first
- step
- in
- creating
- social
- changeWriters
- are
- witnesses
- and
- scribes
- to
- society’s
- conscience
- but
- writing
- about
- social
- issues
- in
- the
- twenty-first
- century
- requires
- a
- new,
- sharper
- toolkit.
- Craft
- and
- Conscience
- helps
- writers
- weave
- together
- their
- narrative
- craft,
- analytical
- and
- research
- skills,
- and
- their
- conscience
- to
- create
- prose
- which
- makes
- us
- feel
- the
- individual
- and
- collective
- impact
- of
- crucial
- issues
- of
- our
- time.
- Kavita
- Das
- guides
- writers
- to
- take
- on
- nuanced
- perspectives
- and
- embrace
- intentionality
- through
- a
- social
- justice
- lens.
- She
- challenges
- writers
- to
- unpack
- their
- motivations
- for
- writing
- about
- an
- issue
- and
- to
- understand
- that
- “writing,
- irrespective
- of
- genre
- or
- outlet,
- is
- an
- act
- of
- political
- writing,”
- regardless
- of
- intention.The
- book
- includes
- essays
- from
- a
- fascinating
- mix
- of
- authors,
- including
- James
- Baldwin,
- Alexander
- Chee,
- Kaitlyn
- Greenidge,
- George
- Orwell,
- Roxane
- Dunbar-Ortiz,
- Gaiutra
- Bahadur,
- Jaquira
- Díaz,
- and
- Imani
- Perry.
- By
- including
- Das’s
- own
- perspective
- and
- those
- of
- the
- featured
- writers
- about
- motivations
- and
- approaches
- to
- writing
- about
- fraught
- social
- issues,
- this
- book
- both
- demystifies
- the
- process
- of
- engaging
- social
- issues
- on
- the
- page,
- and
- underscores
- the
- intentionality
- and
- sensitivity
- that
- must
- go
- into
- the work.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
