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Black Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview With P. Djèlí Clark

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What inspired you to start writing?

Reading. I read a lot. And eventually, I started wondering if I could recreate the things I loved so much about reading. My earliest writing was just for fun—meant for myself, friends, and family. I didn’t start thinking about writing for a broader audience until well after college. Turns out, I had things to say.

 

What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?

I find that horror speaks to something primal in us.

 

Do you make a conscious effort to include African diaspora characters and themes in your writing and if so, what do you want to portray?

Yes, it’s conscious. I don’t do it all the time, but enough to make it a common feature of my writing. In part, it’s to place people who look like me into spaces that (for a long time) did not prominently include us. Also, there’s a lot there to draw on—culture, politics, folklore, etc.

 

What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?

For me, I enjoy writing horror more than I’d have thought. I started reevaluating some of the other genres I love (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.) and realized how much of the horror element I’m drawn to within them. About the world… that horror offers us a unique window and perspective to view the world and present it.

 

How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?

Sure, it’s become more complex than men in hockey masks butchering young virgins—though it can be that too. There are scholars of horror now like Dr. Kinitra Brooks and books like Sadie “Mother of Horror” Hartmann dissects the many sub-genres. I think the future of horror trends towards more complexity for a genre that should be taken seriously.

 

How do you feel the Black community has been represented thus far in the genre and what hopes do you have for representation in the genre going forward?

Well, it wasn’t always great—that’s for sure. But, at the same time, Black writers and creators have used horror to speak to personal, societal, racial, and global traumas forever. So, while the genre for too long ignored us, we were still *always* creating. It seems we’ve reached a height of representation within mainstream horror. I hope that continues to grow and isn’t just a passing trend.

 

Who are some of your favorite Black characters in horror?

Candyman. Even if not written originally by a Black author, his reinventions by Black creators have been chilling! Shori (Fledgling). Jessica (My Soul to Keep), Fana (The Living Blood), Black Tom (The Ballad of Black Tom).

 

Who are some African diaspora horror authors you recommend to our audience check out?

Tananarive Due, of course. The classic writers—Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, Jewelle Gomez. More recent writers: Victor LaValle, Brandon Massey, Chesya Burke, Helen Oyeyemi.

 

What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?

Make it scary, above all else. 

 

And to the Black writers out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?

Write! We’re waiting for you. 


Bio:

Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. Djèlí Clark spent the formative years of his life in the homeland of his parents, Trinidad and Tobago. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn and the novellas The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and has been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.

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