About

Not By a Dead White Guy began when two book worms sought out works by those underrepresented in the Publishing industry.

They were uninterested in the stereotypical “classic” forgoing Hawthorne and Steinbeck, in favor of James Baldwin and Shirley Jackson. They went international, reading from countries they’d never explored, and found Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Orhan Pamuk. Then it dawned on them - They were seeking out literature not by dead white guys.

In recent years many have chronicled reading around the world, but some of those lists seemed dated or uninspired. Can we really consider “The Old Man and the Sea” to be representative of Cuba? Or “Othello” to be the delegate of Cyprus? Does a recommendation to read Dickens or Melville really motivate an outing to the local bookstore? I know I should read “The Count of Monte Cristo”, but that doesn’t mean I want to read “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

There are plenty of resources available on women writers, Black writers, Asian/Pacific writers, but that can lead down a listicle wormhole. Where were all of these ideas baked together in an easily digestible format? Here we present an interactive map where countries are represented by a writer from that country, whose work takes place, at least partially, in that country.

The concept is simple: No dead white guys allowed.

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