An unlikely literary friendship from the past sheds light on the radicalization of public debate around identity, race, and censorship.

In 1961, James Baldwin spent several months in William Styron’s guest house. The two wrote during the day, then spent evenings confiding in each other and talking about race in America. During one of those conversations, Baldwin is said to have convinced his friend to write, in first person, the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The Confessions of Nat Turner was published to critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1968, and also creating outrage in part of the African American community.

Decades later, the controversy around cultural appropriation, identity, and the rights and responsibilities of the writer still resonates. In Baldwin, Styron, and Me, Mélikah Abdelmoumen considers the writers' surprising yet vital friendship from her standpoint as a racialized woman torn by the often unidimensional versions of her identity put forth by today’s politics and media. Considering questions of identity, race, equity, and the often contentious public debates about these topics, Abdelmoumen works to create a space where the answers are found by first learning how to listen—even in disagreement.

Mélikah Abdelmoumen's profile page

Catherine Khordoc's profile page

Mélikah Abdelmoumen was born in Chicoutimi in 1972. She lived in Lyon, France, from 2005 to 2017. She holds a PhD in literary studies from the Université de Montréal and has published many articles, short stories, novels, and essays, including Les désastrées (2013), Douze ans en France (2018), and Petite-Ville (2024). She worked as an editor with the Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature in Montreal until 2021. She was the editor-in-chief of Lettres québécoises, a Québec literary magazine, from 2021 to 2024. Baldwin, Styron, and Me is her tenth book (and the first to be translated).

Catherine Khordoc is a professor of French and Canadian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. She is the author of Tours et détours: Le mythe de Babel dans la littérature contemporaine (University of Ottawa Press, 2012). She also considers herself in many ways a frontier-dweller.

Praise for Baldwin, Styron, and Me

"In this insightful memoir, the first of her books to appear in English, Abdelmoumen reflects on race, ethnicity, cultural appropriation, and her own multiple identities . . . A thoughtful, timely contribution to a controversial debate."

—Kirkus Reviews

"Mélikah Abdelmoumen has painted an intimate and compelling portrait of what it means to live on the frontier between opposing communities. She has also birthed a personal and courageous meditation on the unexpected and striking friendship between two great American writers. In this polarized world, Baldwin, Styron and Me stands out as a polished gem. It reminds us to meet and befriend our neighbours—all of them!"

—Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes

“What a joy it was to get to know Mélikah and her family through this book. It felt like visiting old friends. Through a personal lens Mélikah also reintroduces an old acquaintance in Baldwin, who I love and admire as deeply as her, and a less familiar character in Styron. In exploring this relationship between two writers, so different yet sharing the experience of writing, she reveals a new way to understand both this moment and our own relations. Intellectually engrossing and tenderly written this book is a balm for this time and a welcome visit with new and old relations.”

—Jesse Wente, author of Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance

"Mélikah Abdelmoumen's richly informed writing gives real hope to a world divided in its ideological stances and political positions. She reminds us that if the grandson of a slave and the grandson of a slave owner can reach beyond the bounds of an unfettered, scantly imagined humanism to find common ground, respect, and friendship—who are we not to?"

—Okezie Nwoka, author of God of Mercy

“A truly relevant essay from one of the greatest Quebec thinkers of our time, who reflects on both the question of cultural appropriation and artistic freedom with great singularity and refreshing freedom.”

—Radio-Canada

“In this rich and fascinating essay, Mélikah Abdelmoumen criticizes aggressive radicalism, advocating instead dialogue and empathy. With the help of Baldwin and Styron, the author allows us to see that dialogue is not only possible, but necessary.”

—La Gazette de la Mauricie