Talking Scared [From the Vault] Zakiya Dalila Harris & The Fear of Not Being Black Enough
A chance to revisit one of my favourite books and favourite ever conversations this week.
Zakiya Dalila Harris’s The Other Black Girl came out in early 2021, and for once I was ahead of the curve! Right from the start, I adored this novel of workplace micro-aggression and satirical horror in the publishing industry – and I’m glad to see the world has since agreed.
It’s a high-concept thriller that blends the paranoia of Rosemary’s Baby with the bite of Get Out – and for once it’s a story that deserves those comparisons. Zakiya talks about her own background in publishing and how it informed this nightmare. We talk about discussing racism in fiction, and (in a slightly meta way) we discuss how interviews LIKE THIS ONE may actually perpetuate a degree of othering. In short, I tie myself in white millennial knots, but Zakiya is wonderfully generous.
God I love this book. Some may say it’s not horror. I’d disagree so much that I stuck it on my list of best horror novels ever. Let’s see what you think.
Enjoy!
Other books mentioned:
- All Her Little Secrets (2021), by Wanda M. Morris
- Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin
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