Books are part of a conversation. That conversation happens between readers–but also between a reader and a text, and also between the writer and the literature that precedes them (or, as Jaquira Diaz points out in “Girl Hood”, doesn’t.)

After introducing the writers and their work, Race Forward’s Rosana Cruz (who uses they/them pronouns) poses the question about their “queered lineage” as writers. What they mean by that is simply that lineage doesn’t solely rely on blood relations, but the most influential and important people who have shaped you and your own writing and thinking.

Something we’ll think about throughout the fieldwork is the lineage of your own reading.  How do place, identity, race, gender, age, or other aspects of the self shape the reading you do and want to do this semester with these texts and others?

We’ll address this complex question by starting some basic fieldwork (exploratory writing, interviews, library research, observation, and surveys) over the course of the next few weeks. That “fieldwork” will continue over the rest of our semester together.