Launching our 2015 series on contemporary feminism, The F Word, Haitian-American writer Roxane Gay speaks with Maxine Beneba Clarke.

Their wide-ranging conversation covers the ideas behind Bad Feminist, inclusive approaches to feminism and activism, as well as the role of race, history and power in informing An Untamed State.

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Roxane Gay’s essay ‘Bad Feminist’ was described by the Guardian as ‘the most persuasive feminist recruitment drive in recent memory’: she argues for embracing the values of feminism, while admitting her own contradictions and imperfections as a feminist.

Her book of the same name – a vibrant, provocative, thoughtful collection of essays that blend pop culture, memoir, and politics – is similarly complex and nuanced.

Gay has also been a driving force in agitating to raise the profile of writers of colour, conducting a count of the books reviewed by leading publications. And her debut novel, An Untamed State, about a brutal kidnapping in Haiti and its gruelling aftermath, has been hailed as ‘riveting … smart, searing’ by the Washington Post.

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