[baisl] Re: POC and Female authors taught in Eng. Lit AP

From: "Perotin, Tana" <tperotin@xxxxxxx>
To: "baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2019 18:17:41 +0000

Alexandria,

Thank you for your comments below and your suggestions.  When I wrote “at least
one POC and/or female author”  I mean in addition to what he is currently
teaching.

I feel that you’ve attacked me and the language I used to ask the question
(“acclaim”). I agree with what you say but please be aware that I am trying to
move our English department in the way you describe below.  I am trying change
our curriculum so we aren’t judge teaching dead white men’s works.
Unfortunately all I can do is make suggestions and hope teachers will ask for
my advice. I have zero power in selecting the texts that are used.

I consider BAISL a place where we can ask questions and where colleagues will
assume good intentions from the person asking the question.  I try to choose my
words carefully and I apologize for offending you.

Tana Perotin

From: baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Alexandria Brown
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2019 11:10 AM
To: baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [baisl] Re: POC and Female authors taught in Eng. Lit AP

Hi all,

I want to preface this by saying the list of requirements is already setting
this up to be exclusionary toward BAME (the British equivalent of POC - stands
for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) and especially women of color. Because
of the overwhelming amount of white and/or male authors who have dominated
publishing and playwriting for so long, it's easy to find books by those
authors who hit all those marks. But since BAME authors and playwrights have
been excluded from the mainstream for so long, the amount of options is far
more limited, meaning it's going to be harder to find materials that meet those
extensive qualifications.

In particular, I'm troubled by the use of the word "acclaim", as that's often
used as a reason to not include POC creators in conferences, movies, book
lists, the classroom, etc. We say an author or their work isn't "well-known"
enough without having the conversation as to why.

I'm also troubled by the " at least one POC and/or female author." That's the
absolute bare minimum and, speaking as a QWOC who has spent her life in
predominately white places and institutions, smacks of tokenism. I see this
sort of thing a lot in libraries and schools - one Black author on a list of
nearly all white authors, for example. If we are going to create diverse,
equitable, and inclusive curriculum, we need to do better than "at least one."

All that being said, here are my recommendations:
ER Braithwaite: https://www.bl.uk/people/e-r-braithwaite
Sam Selvon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Selvon
Virginia Woolf: https://www.bl.uk/people/virginia-woolf
CLR James: https://www.bl.uk/people/c-l-r-james
Daphne du Maurier: https://www.bl.uk/people/daphne-du-maurier
Angela Carter: https://www.bl.uk/people/angela-carter
Wilson Harris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Harris
VS Naipaul: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._S._Naipaul
Kazuo Ishiguro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuo_Ishiguro
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Prawer_Jhabvala
Buchi Emecheta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchi_Emecheta

Thanks!

--
Alexandria Brown

Librarian

Marin Academy
1600 Mission Ave.
San Rafael, CA, 94901

On Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 10:29 AM Perotin, Tana
<tperotin@xxxxxxx<mailto:tperotin@xxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi there,

I have an English Lit AP teacher who is looking to expand his class reading
list to include at least one POC and/or female author.  I am interested to find
out if your ELitAP classes have included works that ideally would meet at least
most of the criteria below:

  *   Author ideally is British but American is acceptable
  *   Author is person of color
  *   Author is female
  *   20th century lit
  *   Book should be under 350 pages (or around that)
  *   Plays are encouraged (the instructor also teaches acting and is the
theatre director so he’s fairly knowledgeable about plays).
  *   Works with some acclaim are preferred (the AP reader should be at least
familiar with the work)

Please respond with any titles you think might work even if your school isn’t
currently teaching that work.  Thanks so much for brainstorming with me!

TAna

[Bitmoji Image]

Tana Perotin
Director of Library and Research Services
Bellarmine College Preparatory
960 W. Hedding St.
San Jose, CA 95126
408-537-9257
www.bcp.org<http://www.bcp.org/>

References:
- [baisl] POC and Female authors taught in Eng. Lit AP
  - From: Perotin, Tana
- [baisl] Re: POC and Female authors taught in Eng. Lit AP
  - From: Alexandria Brown

[baisl] Re: POC and Female authors taught in Eng. Lit AP

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