Presentation about background and elements of contemporary Street Literature, at the Maryland Library Association, Ocean City, MD, May 2012.

1. STREET LITERATURE
IN THE 21ST
CENTURY
Vanessa Irvin Morris, M.S.L.S.,
Ed.D.
Maryland Library Conference
2012
Ocean City, Maryland, USA
May 10, 2012

2. WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT
STREET LIT?

3. WHAT IS STREET LITERATURE –
REALLY?
 TRADITIONAL STREET LITERATURE

4. WHAT IS STREET LITERATURE -
REALLY?
 LOCATING CONTEMPORARY STREET LITERATURE

5. WHAT IS STREET LITERATURE -
REALLY?
 LOCATING CONTEMPORARY STREET LITERATURE

6. URBAN FICTION VS. STREET LIT

7. CHARACTERISTICS OF STREET
LIT
 Set in and depicting daily living of low-income
city residents
 Fast paced stories, often with flashback
sequences
 Vivid depictions of the inner city environment
poverty
substandard housing
lack of access to civic resources
 The street as an interactive stage

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF STREET
LIT
 Female and male identity formation (via intense
relationships, often romantic in nature)
 Protagonists are often young adults (common age range 19 –
25)
 Navigation of interpersonal relationships
 surviving abuse
 betrayal in friendships
 fantastical revenge plots
 Commodification of lifestyles
 Surviving street life – overcoming street lifestyle – the
challenge of moving up and away from the streets

9. CHARACTERISTICS OF STREET
LIT characteristics are not exclusive. Can blend across genres, such
 These
as:
Romance Mystery Speculative Fiction Science
Fiction
Black (2003) The Bridge A Wish After Midnight Mind of
My Mind
(2003) (2010) (1994)

10. ELEMENTS OF STREET LIT
Language
Format
Book Covers
Titles

11. CATEGORIES OF STREET LIT
Men’s Stories
Women’s Stories
LGBTQ Street Lit
Possible sub-genre of Street Lit:
 Thug Love Fiction

12. WHO READS CONTEMPORARY
STREET LITERATURE?

13. WHO WRITES CONTEMPORARY
STREET LITERATURE?
http://behindthosebooksmovie.com/trailer.html

14. YOU. LIBRARIAN. READ.
 Recommended Librarian Street Literature Reads
 TRADITIONAL CLASSICS:
 The Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe,
1722
 Roxanne, Daniel Defoe, 1726
 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Stephen Crane, 1893
 Native Son, Richard Wright, 1940
 The Street, Ann Petry, 1946
 The Fortunate Pilgrim, Mario Puzo, 1962
 Manchild of the Promised Land, Claude Brown,
1965

15. YOU. LIBRARIAN. READ.
 Recommended Librarian Street Literature Reads
 CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS:
 Pimp, Iceberg Slim, 1969 (Adult)
 Dopefiend, Donald Goines, 1974 (Adult)
 Down These Mean Streets, Piri Thomas, 1997 (A/YA)
 The Coldest Winter Ever, Sister Souljah, 1999 (A/YA)
 True to the Game, Teri Woods, 1999 (A/YA)
 Flyy Girl, Omar Tyree, 1999 (A/YA)
 B-More Careful, Shannon Holmes, 2002 (Adult)
 Let That Be The Reason, Vickie Stringer, 2002 (Adult)

16. YOU. LIBRARIAN. READ.
 MUST-READ AUTHORS:
 Donald Goines (Adult)
 Iceberg Slim (Adult)
 Sister Souljah (A/YA)
 Teri Woods (A/YA)
 K’wan Foye (A/YA)
 Treasure E. Blue (A/YA)
 Ashley & JaQuavis Coleman (A/YA)
 Wahida Clark (Adult)

17. YOU. LIBRARIAN. READ.
 MUST-READ AUTHORS for TEEN READERS:
 Ni Ni Simone
 Kia Dupree
 L. Divine
 Earl Sewell
 Wahida Clark Presents Young Adult
 Walter Dean Myers
 Sharon Flake

18. RESOURCES
 REFERENCE TEXTS
 Honig, Megan. (2010). Urban Grit: A Guide to Street Lit.
Genreflecting Advisory Series. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
 Irvin Morris, Vanessa. (2011). The Readers Advisory Guide to Street
Literature. Chicago: ALA Editions.
 Ratner, Andrew. (2009). Street Lit: Teaching and Reading Fiction in
Urban Schools. Practical Guides Series. NY: McGraw-Hill.
 Sweeney, Megan. (2010). Reading Is My Window: Books and the Art
of Reading in Women's Prisons. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.

19. RESOURCES
 ONLINE REVIEW SOURCES
 StreetLiterature.com: Bringing You the Word on Street Lit &
Urbanity.
 http://www.streetliterature.com
 Street Literature Book Award Medal List (SLBAM), 1999 – present
 http://www.streetliterature.com/p/slbam.html
 StreetFiction.org: Author Interviews, News & Reviews of Urban
Books
 http://www.streetfiction.org
 Urban Reviews Online.
 http://www.urbanreviewsonline.com/search/label/Latest%20Reviews
 Saddleback Educational Publishing: Urban Fiction Series for
Teens
 http://www.sdlback.com/estore/search/
 For more online review resources, see:
http://www.streetliterature.com/p/parking-lot.html

20. RESOURCES
 SOCIAL MEDIA GROUPS
 Facebook Groups
 Urban Hip-Hop & Street Literature Books
 Urban Street Lit Book Readerz
 Urban Reviews Facebook Group
 K’wan’s Readers
 My Urban Books Club
 Street Fiction Ebooks
 Readers’ Advisory Guide to Street Literature