Try as some might, those who grew up outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) may find it difficult to write fiction grounded in inner-city and African American life.
Titles that depict historical inner-city realities include Stephen Crane's Maggie, A Girl of the Streets (1893), Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist (1838), and Paul Laurence Dunbar's The Sport of the Gods (1902).
In this vein, urban fiction is not just an African American or Latino phenomenon, but, rather, the genre exists along a historical continuum that includes stories from diverse cultural and ethnic experiences.
In tandem with the modernist movement that sought to challenge traditional modes of literary representation, so came a new wave of urban fiction.
"[5] According to Elizabeth Young in the essay anthology Shopping in Space, "the city offers unparalleled opportunities to the creative artist," ranging from "greed and deviancy, crime, bohemianism, sexual excess, nightlife and narcotics."
Regarding the accounts of drug use, Will Self writes that Burroughs' "descriptions of the 'junk territories' his alter ego inhabits are, in fact, depictions of urban alienation itself.
And just as in these areas junk is 'a ghost in daylight on a crowded street', so his junkie characters who are invariably described as 'invisible', 'dematerialized' and "boneless" - are, like the pseudonymous 'William Lee' himself, the sentient residue left behind when the soul has been cooked up and injected into space."
[12] Many non-fiction publications from figures in the hip-hop realm such as Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, and FUBU founder Daymond John feature prominently in this genre.
[13] The first writer in this new cycle of urban fiction was Omar Tyree, who published the novel Flyy Girl in 1996, which was reissued as a reprint in 1999.
[16]A notable example of urban fiction that entered the mainstream American consciousness, Push by Sapphire follows the story of a 16-year-old teen mother tackling incest, abuse, and poverty.
Major writers of contemporary urban fiction include Wahida Clark, Kole Black, Vickie Stringer, Nikki Turner, K'wan Foye, Toy Styles, Roy Glenn, Kwame Teague, who many believed penned Teri Woods' Dutch,[19] and the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond.
With Internet savvy, many self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God and Cold Summer Afternoon, both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh voice in African American fiction, and a leading African-American writer.
[20] Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, and Toy Styles are known for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene.
[21] In recent years, some of these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by penning the musicians' real-life stories.
[24] However, in recent years the mainstream publishing industry recognized the genre's potential and signed many street lit authors to contracts, thus producing better-packaged product.
One such author was Treasure E. Blue, according to Kirkus Reviews Magazine, a self-published sensation—it has reportedly sold 65,000 copies before getting signed to a major six-figure deal with Random House Publishing.