Raising the profile of Black romance books in Canada
Ah, romance ... romance novels, that is. If only love were like that.
Epic, escapist and erotic, they're populated by gorgeous, troubled blondes with long flowing hair, flouncy shirts ripped halfway open on the cover to reveal heaving beautifully shaped chests, and those are the men.
Humour aside, I say gorgeous blondes" deliberately because there is a notorious underrepresentation of Black people in the mainstream romance novel industry.
The genre is enormous, as vibrant as ever, and perhaps more varied than ever (there are vampire, paranormal and various ethnic and LGBTQ+ sub-genres). A billion-dollar industry, yes, but, for all the niche and alternative branding, it's as white as the pages the books are written on.
You might say, what about the black print on those pages? Yes, but the black is written against a very white background, much like the romance novel industry itself.
OK, I've stretched that analogy farther than I should have, but you get the point.
Black romance writing is evolving especially in the United States where there have been and are many thriving black romance authors, virtually all women, like Beverly Jenkins, Brenda Jackson, Alyssa Cole and Rebekah Weatherspoon.
Still, the romance publishing industry there remains chiefly white-run and white- owned and is sometimes marred by racial controversy, as a 2020 Chatelaine magazine article pointed out.
The situation in Canada is different. Black romance writing is almost invisible, says Tanya Lee; if only it were high profile enough to generate controversy.
Black women romance writers (in Canada, and, yes, here too, the ones there are tend to be women) receive very little support, and very little pay for their work," says Lee, a certified life coach who specializes in love, romance and relationships.
She is starting The Black Romance Book Club based locally (but also featuring online elements that will give it national reach) that will be meeting at the Art Gallery of Hamilton starting in September.
Black romance is not celebrated in Canada," says Lee, who already runs a nationwide online book club (soon to meet in person in certain places) called A Room of Your Own."
It's for high risk teen girls (13 to 18, but some as young as 10 and some who keep on past 18) who can't afford to buy their own books.
The scarcity of Black romance here surprises her because she finds Canada so welcoming to different voices and perspectives.
It's not the Canadian way. Canadians are so gracious. If you talk to them and tell them, they will buy the book." As it is now, though, if you look at the romance section (n a book store or online) you hardly ever find BIPOC books written by Canadians," says Lee.
She believes that if there's a push to promote Black Canadian romance authorship and the appreciation of Canadian Black romance novels, the audience will come. Hence the new book club.
It (the book club) will be a great way to learn and mingle and connect again. I would love to have authors come and visit from England and America and the Caribbean (and from Canada too, of course, to the extent that they exist). The goal is to pay for the visits through monthly subscriptions from book club members."
The book club, she says, will feature workshops for writers and readers alike, including instruction from Black editors who will school members in doing research and building characters" with a particular regard for Black experience and the audience for Black stories.
The book club will be based at the Art Gallery of Hamilton but she says she hopes to start satellite clubs all over the country and take it online once a month.
While the book club is about Black Romance, it's for everyone," she says. Readers, writers, editors of any background or description.
What I love about romance novels is that during difficult times they can be your escape. Long winters and good romance novels go together well.
Something that Lee hopes will emerge from the club and the workshops is a push to set romance novels in places like Hamilton that people can recognize.
Why should they all be set in the obviously romantic places like Paris and other European capitals or the Caribbean or exotic locales, she asks. Where are the Black romance novels set in Canada?
We should promote different regions," says Lee.
What could be more romantic than Hamilton with its beautiful waterfalls." People will read the books and want to visit the places where they takes place, she adds, noting that it is good for tourism.
The club's first meeting will be at the AGH on Sept. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. and the first speaker is Jessica P. Pryde, author of Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen and Happily Ever Afters."
There will four in-person events at the AGH but the goal, says Lee is to have clubs spring up elsewhere in Canada and an online book club every month.
The fee for the Black Romance Book Club is $79.99, and the money goes to pay the authors and editors for their appearances at the club and at workshops.
To register visit programming@artgalleryofhamilton.com
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator.jmahoney@thespec.com