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| Photo Credit: Randy Martinez Courtesy of Akashic Books |
This interview on
literature with Akashic Books Founder, Johnny Temple, is one of the most
encouraging interviews I’ve conducted throughout my writing career. Before approaching Temple after attending the
19th Annual Story Festival of Writers Week and hearing him share a
moving story that’s detailed here, I’d been pondering the tragedy in one
allowing their dreams to die under an establishment of rejections while the
haunting belief in the art created screams to be born. Often, I think about several well-known
artists whose dreams were accomplished through independent pursuits and self-belief
or, after someone revived their belief when countless rejections seized
hope.
To the degree that Akashic
has salvaged the voices of amazing writers and brought great stories to literature,
this independent press has been equally rewarded by such writers as Temple shares
in this interview.
Interiors of Man: Since founding Akashic Books, you have
attracted a list of renowned writers from various ethnicities. How has your
study of Black Culture informed the growth of Akashic, along with being a bass
guitarist for an indie band whose influences range from Rock to Reggae?
Johnny Temple: When I was a kid I read books but wasn’t a particularly voracious
reader. I didn’t become passionate about books until I went to college and read Native
Son by Richard Wright. That novel and others I was taught, like Their
Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, helped shape my interest
in literature. And then I read Toni Morrison and my life as a reader changed
forever. Being a musician has of course influenced my literary interests. Toni
Morrison and Bob Marley are two of the cornerstones of my aesthetic tendencies.
IOM: Attending last month’s “Writing to
Publishing” panel discussion presented by Columbia College Chicago, you
emphasized the importance of a writer’s character when considering new
clients. After character assessment, what essentials do you and your
staff look for in deciding to publish an author’s work?
JT: Before questions of character is the quality of the author’s
work. The most important factor, by far, is the caliber of the writing
and the integrity of the work itself.
IOM: What makes an independent press special is
its autonomy to make decisions focused more on artistic value than
commercialism, which facilitates the discovery of distinguished writers who are
often overlooked, as in the case of Marlon James, who as you stated, was about
to give up when you met him in Jamaica. Please share this inspiring story
with Interiors and the rewards in rescuing a great writer from obscurity.
JT: I first met Marlon James at a Calabash Writers Workshop in
Kingston, Jamaica. A few weeks earlier Marlon had connected with Kaylie Jones,
an Akashic author and writing teacher, who was leading a workshop for the
Calabash Writers Workshop. Kaylie urged me to check out Marlon’s manuscript and
I did, and I was both smitten and shocked by the writing. John Crow’s
Devil is a phenomenal and brutal allegory set in a small village in
1950s rural Jamaica. When Kaylie and I met Marlon he was despairing, collecting
a pile of rejection letters from literary agents and publishers in New York
City and elsewhere. He had literally deleted his novel from his hard drive.
Fortunately, we caught him in time and he was able to un-delete John
Crow’s Devil, which Akashic then published to rave reviews and prestigious
award nominations. Marlon’s latest novel, A Brief History of Seven
Killings, published by Riverhead, has taken the mainstream literary world
by storm, with truly outstanding review coverage. Marlon is also teaching at
Macalester College in Minnesota now. So his life has changed significantly from
when we first crossed paths in Jamaica, as has mine.
IOM: Any more discover and rescue missions for
Akashic?
JT: Marlon found and rescued us, as have a lot of other wonderful
authors. I once received a manila envelope in the mail from Chris Abani
containing the pages of his otherworldly and masterful novella Becoming
Abigail. (This story also traces back to Calabash and Jamaica.) Bernice L.
McFadden found Akashic at the Harlem Book Fair and rescued us with her novel Glorious,
and then Gathering of Waters, along with three other earlier novels
of hers that we’ve reissued, including Loving Donovan, for which
Terry McMillan very generously wrote a new introduction. Akashic Books is
defined by these novels and the others that constitute our list.
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