How Do You Write Fiction About Foreign Cultures? Greenlight Bookstore To Discuss

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Fort Greene's Greenlight Bookstore will hold a discussion with experts on fiction writers creating stories about foreign cultures. They will be talking issues of effectively writing about a culture different from one's own without appropriating or cheapening it.

Here is the event description via Greenlight:

When writers take themselves or their characters to other countries, especially those not their own, is it cultural appropriation or expanding the reader’s world? How do you get under the skin of another culture without sounding like a tour guide, a do-gooder, or an elitist? These are some of the questions Aaron Zimmerman, founder and director of NY Writers Coalition, will ask of four fiction writers at tonight’s panel. Deborah Clearman is launching Concepción and the Baby Brokers and Other Stories Out of Guatemala. Ben Dolnick’s 2013 novel At the Bottom of Everything is set partly in India. Lauren Sanders’ forthcoming novel The Book of Love and Hate is an intrigue that spans the globe from NYC to Israel. Iromie Weeramantry’s short stories take place largely in her home country, Sri Lanka. A book signing and reception follows the discussion.

Monday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Deborah Clearman, author of Todos Santos; Ben Dolnick, author of Zoology; Lauren Sanders, author of Kamikaze Lust; and Iromie Weeramantry, author of Rash.
Moderated by Aaron Zimmerman, founder of the NY Writer's Coalition
Wine reception to follow

Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene is located at 686 Fulton St. Find more information about the event here.

Photo via public domain