Remembering Dark Streets
A New Novel Looks at the Life in Inner-City Neighborhood

Listen to Liane Hansen's interview with Kenji Jasper.

Sept. 9, 2001 -- In Dark, 25-year-old writer Kenji Jasper's debut novel, the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, D.C., is more than just a backdrop for his story. For the four young men portrayed in the book, the inner city gives them their sense of self and community. For Weekend Edition Sunday, host Liane Hansen spoke with the author about coming of age in urban Black America.

Author Kenji Jasper during his interview at NPR Photo: Wilma Consul, NPR

"Your neighborhood, growing up in the city, is pretty much the boundaries by which you define your life and that's your frame of reference," says Jasper, a Washington native who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "When I was growing up, there was unfortunately a lot of violence, a lot of drugs in that community."

His novel centers around the character Thai Williams, a young man from Shaw, who kills another man who's been having an affair with his girlfriend. Even though it's the impulsive act of murder that drives Dark, the book ultimately gives its character a second chance in life. With the help of his neighborhood friends, Thai flees to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he begins to learn that there is more to this world than the streets of Washington.

Jasper at Washington's Shaw neighborhood, where his novel is based. Photo: Wilma Consul, NPR

Charlotte is less than a day's drive from Washington. But for Thai, it was a world apart from his old neighborhood. Jasper knows about North Carolina. When he was a journalism major at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Jasper spent a summer there as an intern at Charlotte Observer. And like his character, Jasper says he also felt isolated there, calling it the loneliest summer of his life.

Selling a book with such themes was not easy. More than 30 publishers turned down the manuscript before the author found someone who was willing to market it. But his persistence paid off. The book has received critical acclaim since its publication, and Jasper's second novel is already scheduled for release next year.

He says one critic he hasn't heard from is his mother, who hasn't gotten around to reading it yet. He thinks she will enjoy it, although, he adds, she wouldn't approve of some of the language in the book.

This piece was produced by Wilma Consul.

Other Resources

Dark, Kenji Jasper's debut novel Photo: Broadway Books

• Learn more about Kenji Jasper's novel, Dark, from Broadway Books.

• Visit Blackwriters.org, a Web site dedicated to African-American writers.

• Check out Black Fiction Writers: A Selected List, compiled by the Chicago Public Library.