In the video below, I sit down with David Mura—teacher of creative writing and author of at least ten books of poetry, fiction, memoir, and craft criticism—to discuss his new book: A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing. In both the book and our conversation, Mura speaks with insight, clarity, and grace on: (a) the racism that exists even within supposedly “liberal” spaces such as creative writing programs, including how to survive and how to address race and ethnicity in healthier and more inclusive ways, (b) the elements of narrative in the writing of fiction and memoir, and (c) in contrast to those who would separate craft from politics, the intersection of those two. I hope this book will be widely read and taught in creative writing programs, by both writers of color and white writers.
Corrigan Literary Review 