Why Academic Editors Should Read Black Feminist Writing

Later this month, the academic editing book club will host Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans, the author of Black Feminist Writing, for a 60-minute Q&A. This book club is run by the Academic Editing Special Interest Group, a collaboration of Editors Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA).

About the book

Black Feminist Writing: A Practical Guide to Publishing Academic Books encourages scholars to write books that will change the world — while also prioritizing joy, wellness and rigor in the writing process. 

While the book is aimed directly at Evans’ fellow scholars of Black women’s studies, it also speaks to anyone working in higher education — especially those from marginalized communities. Combining portraits from Evans’ research in Black women’s intellectual history with lessons drawn from her experiences as a faculty member, department chair and academic author, each chapter meditates on a different facet of academic writing practice. 

The chapters also include excellent reflection questions and practical tasks to encourage the reader toward book publication. I’ll likely be assigning these as homework for coaching clients or in writing groups — with appropriate attribution, of course! #CiteASista #CiteBlackWomen

A multidisciplinary guide

Black Feminist Writing places a wise guide beside you at your desk. Evans offers straightforward advice and details the often-hidden processes of academic publishing. But she also makes clear that this advice is not one-size-fits-all. Each writer must discover their own writing practice, and she reminds writers to read several other writing guides as well.

The wisdom collected in the book will benefit academic writers and editors across disciplines. For example, Evans encourages writers to maintain high standards without getting stuck in the weeds. She says, “there is a distinct probability that the way you interpret something will be wrong, incomplete, or lacking nuance. Proceed anyway” (Evans 2024, 75). As a coach, I often support writers to “proceed anyway” into the uncertainty of writing. 

Another piece of wisdom is the importance of owning your mind, choosing what to do with your time without guilt and prioritizing work that matters to you. Evans puts it succinctly: “Writing can be a source of mental freedom. And an uncolonized mind is a powerful thing” (Evans 2024, 109). 

She goes on to explain, “Academics are conditioned to believe that we write books for tenure and promotion, but reclaiming the purpose of writing for ourselves and our communities can remove the fabricated pressure of the profession” (Evans 2024, 110). Writers and editors of academic books may have purposes nowhere near the tenure track, and it can be rejuvenating to tap into those motivations.

Finding community in Black Feminist Writing

Community is a theme throughout Black Feminist Writing. To do the hard work of writing and publishing, writers need something bigger than themselves. Evans guides scholars to focus on not only the community of other writers, but also the community served by their work. She sums up this wisdom by saying, “Perhaps, together, we might endeavor to not only write books, but also write enough to educate, inform, and energize an ever-growing community of problem-solvers, dreamers, creators, and innovators” (Evans 2024, 157). Now that’s inspiration I need in challenging times.

As academic editors, we can use this book as we provide guidance to academic writers, helping them realize the wisdom Evans shares. And in our own work as editors, we can benefit from Evans’ reminders to prioritize self care and do work that matters to us.

In my coaching practice, I will recommend Black Feminist Writing as a resource for the Black women I work with, and for anyone who would benefit from reframing academic writing to be about wellness, joy and freedom. 

Join the discussion

Dr. Stephanie Evans is a professor of Black women’s studies in the Institute for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University, as well as an affiliate faculty member in the Department of African American Studies. 

She will join the academic editing book club for a discussion on February 21 at 1 pm ET. Please consider joining us for what promises to be a compelling conversation. RSVP here to receive the Zoom link.

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