Why "Watermelanin"?
In 1996, poet Paul Beatty published a coming-of-age novel about a Black man called The White Boy Shuffle. It was the first novel I read where the protagonist was Black and successful. The protagonist was a poet, like I had always wanted to be, and in charge of his destiny.
The novel moves through absurdism and skirts convention easily. It is nearly parody and works to subvert tropes while commenting on the state of Black existence in America. It's a wonderful book I recommend everyone pick up.
In the prologue, we learn the name of the protagonist's wildly successful book: Watermelanin.
The name has always stuck with me.
It is silly and subversive, all at once. It works to shift narrative.
I wanted to pay homage to something of monumental importance to my growth as a writer.
Thus, I named the magazine Watermelanin.
Sometimes silly. Sometimes subversive.
-Lashelle
The novel moves through absurdism and skirts convention easily. It is nearly parody and works to subvert tropes while commenting on the state of Black existence in America. It's a wonderful book I recommend everyone pick up.
In the prologue, we learn the name of the protagonist's wildly successful book: Watermelanin.
The name has always stuck with me.
It is silly and subversive, all at once. It works to shift narrative.
I wanted to pay homage to something of monumental importance to my growth as a writer.
Thus, I named the magazine Watermelanin.
Sometimes silly. Sometimes subversive.
-Lashelle