I wrote a children’s book about a Seminole Native American little girl with a coming of age theme. I collaborated with a professional photographer illustrated my book. It has been accepted be an agent who told me I have to label story as a non-fiction since I am not a Native American. It was suggested that I make the necessary changes to change fiction into non-fiction. My question is: do I have to change the magic and charm of the fantasy that characterizes this little girl in my story. When I take the fantasy out of her voice, it looses it color and warmth. I do include some backstory regarding the culture in the plot of the story as well as the elements of nature. Jaki has a special gift to be able to communicate with nature.
Question: Is it true that a book written about a culture must be written by a person of the same culture? If the author is not of the same culture, does it has to be classified as non-fiction?
Hi Glori,
I think there are a few parts to this. 1) Nonfiction is true. Written with verifiable facts. I don’t know if your book qualifies as nonfiction. Melissa Stewart has an amazing website that covers different types of nonfiction and what makes a book nonfiction. http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/ 2) A book written by someone from a particular culture is called #ownvoices. It’s important that the stories do come from someone with that background. As a librarian who acquires books, I try to find as many #ownvoices books as possible. At the very least, if we write outside of our culture, we need to hire a sensitivity reader (maybe more than one). Professional reviews are also starting to talk about the background of the author and whether or not he/she/they are from that background that is in their story. However, these are decisions that an author must make for herself. Authors from marginalized backgrounds often talk about this. I think it’s best if we can amplify their voices. The fact that someone writes outside of their culture does NOT make the book nonfiction. I hope that helps.
2 Comments
Glorianne Margaret Polacheck
I wrote a children’s book about a Seminole Native American little girl with a coming of age theme. I collaborated with a professional photographer illustrated my book. It has been accepted be an agent who told me I have to label story as a non-fiction since I am not a Native American. It was suggested that I make the necessary changes to change fiction into non-fiction. My question is: do I have to change the magic and charm of the fantasy that characterizes this little girl in my story. When I take the fantasy out of her voice, it looses it color and warmth. I do include some backstory regarding the culture in the plot of the story as well as the elements of nature. Jaki has a special gift to be able to communicate with nature.
Question: Is it true that a book written about a culture must be written by a person of the same culture? If the author is not of the same culture, does it has to be classified as non-fiction?
Thank you,
Glori Mulligan
aka Glorianne Polacheck
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Hi Glori,
I think there are a few parts to this. 1) Nonfiction is true. Written with verifiable facts. I don’t know if your book qualifies as nonfiction. Melissa Stewart has an amazing website that covers different types of nonfiction and what makes a book nonfiction. http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/ 2) A book written by someone from a particular culture is called #ownvoices. It’s important that the stories do come from someone with that background. As a librarian who acquires books, I try to find as many #ownvoices books as possible. At the very least, if we write outside of our culture, we need to hire a sensitivity reader (maybe more than one). Professional reviews are also starting to talk about the background of the author and whether or not he/she/they are from that background that is in their story. However, these are decisions that an author must make for herself. Authors from marginalized backgrounds often talk about this. I think it’s best if we can amplify their voices. The fact that someone writes outside of their culture does NOT make the book nonfiction. I hope that helps.