Horror and the National African American Read-In

February has traditionally been known as Black History Month and as part of that month of exploration and celebration, the Black Caucus of NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and the full body of the NCTE itself have created The National African American Read-In.

This Read-In is in its twenty-first year, so although it’s new to me it’s not a new program.

Basically the program runs the entire month of February allowing schools, churches and book discussion groups plenty of time to organize a Read-In in their community.

As a blogger who promotes horror fiction to a geographically diverse group of readers, we won’t be able to hold a true “read-in”. However, there are other things we can do:

1.) There are a lot of bookstores, libraries, school and churches which are organizing read-ins in your community. A quick stroll through your local newspaper might reveal several events nearby. If that doesn’t work, call nearby establishments and double-check. There is still time to find a read-in near you — or organize one of your own. Check the Read-In website for more details.

2.) I think, as avid readers of horror fiction, we could do no less than read at least one horror book by an African-American author this month. There are a growing number of them out there. I’ll post a beginning list on Wednesday.

Find a horror novel or a collection of horror short stories by an African-American author and read it. Give someone a try and see if you enjoy their stories.

If you like what you read, then support him or her. Read their works, talk about their stories, introduce other people to their books and when possible, purchase them.

Leave a comment below letting us know who you’re reading and what books. You might even talk about why you’re reading them.

Who knows? We all might find a new favorite author.

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Tagged as: African American Authors