The Craft of John Edgar Wideman

Written By Madelyn S

The Nation, April 26, 2021: The Craft of John Edgar Wideman

A conversation with one of the greatest living Black American writers on work, life, and why good fiction is like a game of basketball.

“[Wideman’s] new collection, You Made Me Love You: Selected Stories, 1981–2018, compiles short stories that feature characters as diverse as Frederick Douglass, a blind basketball player, and Wideman himself and discusses issues from slavery and abolition to sports, romance, visual art, academic scholarship, and more. I spoke with him about the collection, prisons, and the importance of dialogue. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.”

Additional reading:

You Made Me Love You: Selected Stories, 1981-2018 on bookshop.org

AP News, July 27, 2019: Unlikely pairing of professor, inmate yields results

Pittsburgh’s Action 4 News, July 2, 2019: Governor commutes sentence of prize-winning author's brother

Madelyn S
Previous

The Secrets of the World's Greatest Jailbreak Artist
Next

Sabrina Van Tassel’s “The State of Texas vs. Melissa” Acquired by Hulu