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Urban fiction, also known as Street lit, is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city
landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the
urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity, sex,
and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material.
In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction.

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1 Genesis and historical forces behind urban fiction

2 The first generation of urban fiction

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3 Hip Hop Lit: Hip Hop Music as an Urban Ballad

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4 The new wave of urban fiction

5 Authors of urban fiction

Languages

6 References

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7 External links
7.1 Reading lists

Genesis and historical forces behind urban fiction

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Urban fiction was (and largely still is) a genre written by and for African Americans. In his famous
essay The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois discussed how a veil separated the African
American community from the outside world.[1] By extension, fiction written by people outside the
African American culture could not (at least with any degree of verisimilitude) depict the people,
settings, and events experienced by people in that culture. Try as some might, those who grew up
outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) simply could not write fiction truly grounded in innercity and African American life.

The first generation of urban fiction

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In the 1970s, during the culmination of the Black Power movement, a jailed Black man named Robert
Beck took the pen name Iceberg Slim and wrote Pimp, a dark, gritty tale of life in the inner-city
underworld. While the book contained elements of the Black Power agenda, it was most notable for
its unsparing depiction of street life. Iceberg Slim wrote many other novels and attained an
international following. Some of the terminology he used in his books crossed over into the lexicon of
Black English.[2] Other writers included Donald Goines [3] and, notably, Claude Brown's Manchild in
the Promised Land, which was published in 1965. Also published that year was The Autobiography of
Malcolm X. Because this non-fictional read captured the realistic nature of African American urban
life for coming-of-age young men, the book has consistently served as a standard for reading among
African American teenaged boys.

Hip Hop Lit: Hip Hop Music as an Urban Ballad

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Urban fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During the 1980s and early 1990s, urban fiction in print experienced a decline. However, one could
make a cogent argument that urban tales simply moved from print to music, [4] as hip hop music
exploded in popularity, with harsh, gritty stories such as "The Message" and "Dopeman," set to a
driving, strident drum-kit rhythm. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and
made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards,
griots or troubadours telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written
form. One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and is
undeniably an author of urban fiction in lyrical form. Shakur also wrote a book of poetry called The
Rose That Grew From Concrete.
Hip Hop lit in print form, though, is thriving. [5] Non-fiction books from players in the hip hop realm
such as Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, and FUBU founder Daymond John are also filed in
this genre. Carmen Bryant and Karrine Steffans have both written blockbuster books for this
audience, as has shock jock Wendy Williams. Both Steffans and emcee 50 Cent had such success
with their books that they were given their own imprints to usher in similar authors. 50 Cent's G-Unit
Books adds a legitimacy to a fictional genre that was previously disregarded.

The new wave of urban fiction

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Toward the end of the 1990s, urban fiction experienced a revival, as demand for novels authentically
conveying the urban experience increased, and new business models enabled fledgling writers to
more easily bring a manuscript to market. One of the first writers in this new cycle of urban fiction
was Omar Tyree, who published the novel Flyy Girl in 1993. However, it really gained momentum in
1999 with Sister Souljah's bestseller The Coldest Winter Ever. [6] For good or ill, her books gained
publicity based on comments she made during an interview that some took out of context and
interpreted as advocating the killing of white people. Teri Woods's True to the Game was also
published in 1999. Along with Souljah's Coldest Winter, these three novels are considered classics in
the renaissance of the genre.
Other writers of urban fiction include Travis VP Fox aka The Black Poe, Jeff Rivera, Vikki Stringer,
Shannon Holmes, Mallori McNeal, Miasha, TN Baker, Solomon Jones, K'wan Foye, Anthony Whyte,
Erick Gray, Nikki Turner, Big Rob Ruiz , the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond, J.Gail,
and Pamela M. Johnson, the latter of whom is becoming known in urban-fiction circles for
bootstrapping a single novel sold from the trunk of her car into a publishing company and press.
Other notable urban-fiction writers include Kole Black, author of The Chance She Took, which was
released 2007, and The Risk of Chance, which was released 2008 by Spaulden Publishing. In 2009,
the first known urban Islamic fiction novel The Size of a Mustard Seed by Maryam Umm Juwayriyah
Sullivan was published. [7] Feeling the absence of stories like her own, Sullivan created her novel as
a natural evolution of urban fiction, portraying the lives of multi-generational, inner-city American
Muslims of various and blended backgrounds.
In less than a decade, urban fiction has experienced a renaissance that boasts hundreds of titles.
The newest wave of street fiction is urban Latino fiction novels such as Devil's Mambo by Jerry
Rodriguez and Jeff Rivera's Forever My Lady.
There is also an unexpected literary wave to hip-hop fiction and street lit, which was sparked by
Sister Souljah. Authors with a book or books in this offering include Sofia Quintero of the Black
Artemis Novels; E-Fierce, also known as Elisha Miranda; Heru Ptah; Ferentz Lafargue; Saul
Williams; Abiola Abrams; Felicia Pride; Marcella Runell Hall; and Martha Diaz. These are hip hop lit
or street lit books that take a more literary approach using metaphor, signifying and other literary
devices. These books may also be used in socially redeeming or classroom capacities, while
maintaining love and positivity for the music and the hip hop culture.
With this new wave of renaissance street lit comes a whole new ballgame when it comes to
promotion and exposure. Aside from hand-to-hand sales, which seems to work best in a genre where
word-of-mouth has proven to be worth more than any large ad campaign, the Internet has increased
the authors and publishers the ability to reach out to the genre's readers. With Internet savvy, many
self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as
author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini
Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God and Cold
Summer Afternoon, both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh
voice in African American fiction. [citation needed]

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Urban fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From online book groups and Web sites such as QBR , RawSistaz , Urban Reviews , and Coast
2 Coast Readers to e-zines such as The Urban Book Source , Internet sites geared toward
Urban readers are making themselves felt and can often make the difference between a bestseller
and a book that shouldnt have ever been printed.
Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, Kole Black, and Relentless Aaron are known
for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene. In recent years,
these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by
penning the musicians' real-life stories.
Many of these titles are published by independent houses, and the ones from those houses are
known for their lack of copy editing. However, the mainstream publishing industry is starting to
recognize the genre's potential and is signing many of these authors to contracts.

Authors of urban fiction

Travis Vp Fox
Relentless Aaron
Dwan Abrams
Takerra Allen
T. N. Baker
Kole Black
Tracy Brown
Jordan Charles
Chunichi
Rasheed Clark
Wahida Clark
JaQuavis Coleman
Renea Collins
Keshia Dawn
L. Divine
Clifton Dutton
Keisha Ervin
Nina Foxx
Treasure Hernandez
Erick S. Gray
Tia Hines
Shannon Holmes
La Jill Hunt
Jihad
Antonne M. Jones
Janice Jones
Solomon Jones
Deja King
K'wan
Paul Langan (Bluford series)
Michelle Larks
Darien Lee
Sherri L. Lewis
Thomas Long
Luke
Victor L. Martin

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Urban fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Miasha
Walter Dean Myers
Noire
Kendra Norman-Bellamy
Eric Pete
Gary Phillips
Daaimah S. Poole
Sofia Quintero, aka Black Artemis
Sapphire
Anne E. Schraff (Bluford series)
Teresa Seals
Sister Souljah
T. Styles
Vickie Stringer
Nikki Turner
K. Roland Williams
KaShamba Williams
LaTonya Williams
Saul Williams
Camille Yarbrough
Zane
Eyone Williams
Nathan Welch
Kwame "Dutch" Teague
Darrell Debrew
Kawand S. Crawford
Nikida S. Taste
J.M. Benjamin

References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

[edit]

^ [1]
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ [4]
^ PINTO, C. "Urban lit blazes off bookshelves." Gannett News Service. 2009, August 31
^ (Morris, Hughes-Hassell, Agosto, & Cottman, 2006)

7. ^ Diana "Urban Islamic Fiction: A New Genre in Muslim Lit" Muslimah Mediawatch 15 July 2002
retrieved 8 August 2010

Morris, V. J., Hughes-Hassell, S., Agosto, D. E., & Cottman, D. T. (2006). Street lit: Flying off teen
fiction bookshelves in Philadelphia public libraries. Young Adult Library Services, 5(1), 16-23.
Retrieved 4/2/2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text, H.W. Wilson.

External links

[edit]

Lit Up: Keisha Ervin's gritty tales of the St. Louis streets have made her one of the nation's
hottest purveyors of urban fiction Riverfront Times. April 2009.
Readers Embrace 'Ghetto Lit' Genre

, National Public Radio Morning Edition, January 20, 2004.

Publishing Company Called Out over 'Ghetto Lit'

October 12, 2007.

, National Public Radio All Things Considered,

New literary genre emerging from underground authors

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, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19,

Urban fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2003.
Nick Chiles: Don't call this smut 'literature'

, Dallas News, January 8, 2006.

StreetFiction.org: An Urban Fiction Review Web Site

Reading lists

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Because this genre is very popular with urban teenagers, the following reading lists should prove to
be helpful for educators and librarians.
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 7, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland,
P.L.
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 6, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 5, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland,
P.L.
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 4, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 3, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland
P.L.
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 2, By Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
Library Journal. The Word on the Street No. 1, By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland
P.L.
Streetwise Urban Fiction, by David Wright, Seattle Public Library
Urban/Street Lit For Public *Library Collections by Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
Urban/Street Lit For School Library Collections by Vanessa J. Morris, Philadelphia, PA
Urban/Street Fiction Title/Author List by Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
African American Book Club Urban/Street Fiction List
Crazy Quilts Blog with Urban Lit for School Library Collections by Edith Campbell, Arlington High
School, Indianapolis, IN
Library Journal. [5]
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