Kiley Reid on Why Fiction Isn’t Activism

First Draft: A Dialogue of Writing is a weekly show featuring in-depth interviews with fiction, nonfiction, essay writers, and poets, highlighting the voices of writers as they discuss their work, their craft, and the literary arts. Hosted by Mitzi Rapkin, First Draft celebrates creative writing and the individuals who are dedicated to bringing their carefully chosen words to print as well as the impact writers have on the world we live in.

In this episode, Mitzi talks to Kiley Reid about her new novel, Come and Get It.

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From the episode:

Mitzi Rapkin: I’m wondering about redemption through writing. And that was something your character Kennedy found, or maybe for her, it wasn’t redemption but a type of therapy, perhaps, or a type of solace.  She had a writing teacher where she disclosed a terrible thing that happened to her and instead of shaming her, the writing teacher said just write about it. I think she felt a moment of grace, she felt acceptance. And then when she started writing, I think she found some peace. And I’m curious, if you think that writing has that quality, or if it has that had that quality for you?

Kiley Reid: I’m of two minds about this. I think writing is an amazing practice for anyone, whether they are an aspiring novelist, or wanting to journal or work through a time in their lives – amazing – write about it. The reason that writing is great is because it makes you be quiet. And it should, at its best, make you curious about how you feel, how others feel, how the world is working, it should make you a person who is concerned with the world around you, and about the human behavior that you do on other people and receive as well. I teach undergrads and a lot of my undergrads are STEM students who just need an art credit. And I really love that approach to writing as well, I kind of like reading, I don’t really have time to read in school anymore, but you know, maybe this will be fine. And I really like teaching students from that place because I feel like they’re learning how to look at art differently. And they’re reading things that they wouldn’t normally come across, and their brains just change in real time. It’s the best when someone says, I think this story is trying to work with time in a new way. It’s like yes, yes, exactly. You’re seeing this differently, and you’re never going to not see it the same way again, and that’s really beautiful. All of that said, I do not see writing as a rebellious act. And I do not see writing as a civil rights act as well, especially in terms of writing fiction. I know that many authors would disagree with me in that space. Writing is my favorite thing to do. It is my absolute passion to discover new characters and situations and emotions that I’ve always kind of held in the back of my head but couldn’t find the words for, that is my favorite thing. I believe novels are meant to entertain, whether you’re entertained from beautiful prose or recognition or nostalgia or plot, I believe that it’s meant to entertain. I don’t believe that you can sell social justice in a hardcover book for $26 because that would mean that books are meant for certain people and redemption is meant for certain people but not for others. So, I do reject the bravery and activism of writing fiction, because unfortunately, not everyone can get their hands on it.

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Kiley Reid is the author of Come and Get It and Such A Fun Age, which was a New York Times Best Seller and longlisted for the 2020 Booker Price. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Playboy, The Guardian, and others. Reid is currently an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.