‘Red flags’, ‘performative reading’: What do our reading choices say about us?

What do our reading choices say about us? When teaching creative writing and literature classes, I always ask my students about their favourite genres and current reading in the first week. It is a good way to get a sense of their interests, gauge how they will respond to set texts, and get them thinking about the kinds of projects they want to work on.

There are always a few students who will sheepishly admit to not reading any fiction at all, and I’ll happily talk to them about comic books, television shows and video games. This exercise often leads to some interesting conversations across the class, where students start to connect over their favourite authors and share recommendations.

Very occasionally, however, someone will mention a book or an author that will give me pause. I still remember a moment from my second year of teaching when a student causally mentioned that they were reading The Turner Diaries, an infamous work of white nationalist speculative fiction (recently referenced in the 2024 film The Order), because they were “just curious” about it.

I didn’t press them further and the student never expressed any extremist views in class or in their writing. In fact, they were unfailingly thoughtful and respectful. I couldn’t see any...

Read more