The Fordham Ram features The Reid Writers of Color Series

Sofia Donahue reports on The Reid Writers of Color Reading Series featuring Angie Cruz in The Ram.

On April 19, Fordham’s English Department hosted the Reid Writers of Color Series. Since the first Reid Writers of Color event in 2008, the English Department has hosted numerous award-winning writers of color such as Junot Díaz, Tracy K. Smith and Renee Gladman. This year, the Reid Writers of Color hosted Angie Cruz, a novelist whose primary works include “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water” and “Dominicana.”

In 2007, a few faculty members in the English Department chose to incorporate a book by an author of color into the English curriculum.

“We were floating this idea that, as a department, we should draw attention to writers of color and give students across classes a book by a writer of color so they could think together about it and we, as a department, could celebrate writers of color,” said Susan Greenfield, an English professor at Fordham.
When Frances Reid’s son entered Fordham as an undergraduate, Reid jumped at the opportunity to contribute to Fordham’s diversity initiatives and support BIPOC. During her son’s time at Fordham, he read very few books by writers of color. Reid wanted to make a donation and have the money go towards a literary series.

“It’s tremendously important not only to undergraduates looking at Fordham’s English program…her generous request year after year, being so involved, has genuinely changed the literary landscape,” said Mary Bly, chair of the English department….