Walter Mosley on Writing and the Black Community

Walter Mosley on Writing and the Black Community

'I'm trying to create a literature that everybody reads, but that, on the other hand, black men can enjoy. This work has deeply flawed characters, working-class people, although they may be enjoying some success, and when they do something wrong, you can feel the sweat. I know black women and black men can feel that,' but he is concerned about the way forward: ' We're not building up the intellectual or economic infrastructure of the black community. Most black writers are being published today by mainstream publishers because they can make money doing that. But as soon as that money turns soft, all could stop being published. If we don't build up the infrastructure, if we don't make sure that blacks are being hired as editors and members of the sales force, if we don't give some of our books to black publishers, then we will have no infrastructure. And what's happening now is not going to last.'

Walter Mosley in an interview with the Seattle Post Intelligencer