Just Do It

Samuel R. Delany

by Natalie Hope McDonald

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Published: May 16, 2007

Thu., May 17, 5:30 p.m., free, Giovanni's Room, 345 S. 12th St., 215-923-2960, www.giovannisroom.com

In his latest novel, Dark Reflections (Carroll & Graf, $15.95), Temple University creative writing professor Samuel R. Delany (also known as "Chip") borrows from his own experiences living as an openly gay African-American writer in New York's Lower East Side. Unlike the novel's protagonist, Arnold Hawley, however, Harlem-born Delany gave up a stint as a poet for a more lucrative career as a sci-fi writer, known for his Hugo Award-winning Dhalgren, which controversially explored issues related to race and sex. But like Hawley, Delany came to terms with his homosexuality by exploring the dark sexual underworld of Lower Manhattan.

Tonight, the author will read a selection from Dark Reflections and discuss how he crafted the novel, which begins with his doppelganger as a 50-year-old poet who wins a prestigious literary award, only to reflect on his unhappy marriage. (Delany was married for 19 years to poet Marilyn Hacker.)

In addition to writing novels, Delany is also a renowned literary critic, whose Times Square Red, Time Square Blue provocatively explores the famous locale's relationship with working-class gay men and hustlers.

 

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