Black Women Writing and Reading

Abstract

When I was asked to provide a commentary on Black women’s writing, two main areas of concern came to mind. The first relates to my experiences as a mature student of English on a BA course at an inner-city polytechnic. The second concerns my own practice as a Black woman writer of fiction; my aims, interests and the way in which such writing is currently received. I wanted to use this double focus as a means of examining the difficulties which Black women invariably encounter when they enter either domain, both of which have previously been realms of exclusion and marginalisation.