Baldwin, Styron, and Me by Mélikah Abdelmoumen, translated by Catherine Khordoc

In 1961, James Baldwin stayed with white writer William Styron; their friendship, and discussions on race and racism in America, deeply influenced both men. Baldwin convinced Styron to write his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, told in the first person from Turner’s perspective. Styron’s aim, as the grandson of enslavers, was to convince white Americans that the history of slavery was their history, too, not something to be placed in the separate, contained category of “Black history” but rather something that white Americans needed to confront. Although the novel won Styron the Pulitzer, it was also criticized by a group of Black writers for failing to accurately represent Turner’s story.

Mélikah Abdelmoumen discovered this history in the 2010s when going through a rapid political education while living in France. Born and raised in Quebec by a Québécoise mother and Tunisian father, she became disturbed by increasing political polarization in France and discrimination against people who looked like her (that is, broadly speaking, Arab), and she took refuge in reading. Baldwin’s works in particular spoke to her across the divide of many decades, and as she learned about his friendship with Styron, and the controversial novel that resulted out of that friendship, she began to puzzle through what these debates meant for her own life.

The ultimate message is, of course, that the most intellectually and politically rewarding ideas often come from reaching across a divide, acknowledging difference, and finding common ground.

This expansive, evocative, and insightful book is part memoir, part imaginative reconstruction of history. Just as Styron attempted to “[construct] his Nat Turner from the breaches, blanks, cracks, and holes in the historical record,” Abdelmoumen imagines conversations between the two writers by using what records we do have and rigorously imagining the rest. She takes up French politics, Québécois nationalism, often counterproductive institutional equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts, and of course the questions at the heart of the controversy surrounding The Confessions of Nat Turner. She shies away from easy answers, arguing, “Sometimes we have no other choice but to simply maintain our equilibrium between two opposition positions – as if we were on a tightrope, in a perpetual and vital balancing act.” A particularly beautiful passage in the book reproduces part of a debate between Styron and Ossie Davis, a Black artist who objects to his novel, moderated by Baldwin. Both men have deep respect for one another’s positions, and Abdelmoumen suggests that neither is wrong. Instead, she argues, each is equally correct, even though their viewpoints conflict. This is typical of her generous yet no less intellectually rigorous approach to the subject.

The ultimate message is, of course, that the most intellectually and politically rewarding ideas often come from reaching across a divide, acknowledging difference, and finding common ground. It’s a conclusion that perhaps feels trite on its surface, but the careful and thorough examination of this case study adds weight to this conclusion: Baldwin, the grandson of an enslaved woman, and Styron, the grandson of an enslaver, created a deep and meaningful connection. Further, Abdelmoumen’s book suggests that failure might be productive, that risks need not always pay off to create value, that friction and disagreement can lead to necessary, ongoing conversations. By knitting together this literary history with her own personal experiences, Abdelmoumen has created something new and vital.

Mélikah Abdelmoumen is the author of many short stories, essays and books that include Les désastrées and Douze ans en France. Her essay Baldwin, Styron et moi won the 2022 Pierre-Vadeboncoeur Essay Prize. She is the editor in chief of the literary magazine Lettres québécoises and was born in Quebec. She holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Montreal.

Catherine Khordoc is a translator and professor at Carleton University in the department of French and the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.

Publisher: Biblioasis (March 11, 2025)
Paperback: 8″ H x 5″ W x 1″ L | 160pp
ISBN: 9781771966269

Clementine Oberst

Clementine Oberst is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in television studies. Born and raised in Toronto, she has lived in Montreal and Glasgow and now calls Hamilton home. When she isn't writing her dissertation, Clementine can be found knitting, trying to cultivate a green thumb, and playing with her cats. She loves nothing more than losing herself in a good book. You can connect with her on Instagram @clementinereads.