Baldwin, Styron, and Me by Mélikah Abdelmoumen, translated by Catherine Khordoc

Baldwin, Styron, and Me by Mélikah Abdelmoumen, translated by Catherine Khordoc

In 1961, James Baldwin stayed with white writer William Styron; their friendship, and discussions on race and racism in America, deeply influenced both men. Baldwin convinced Styron to write his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, told in the first person from Turner’s perspective. Styron’s aim, as the grandson of enslavers, was to convince white Americans that the history of slavery was their history, too, not something to be placed in the sep…