Criticism/Memoir
The Call of Paris by Malik Wilson
November 2026
Men and women from the world over have been seduced by Paris' quiet, sensuous call. Whether rich or poor, king or pauper, so many have felt the stir, have been assuaged, consoled, brought to bear. In The Call of Paris, Malik tells his own story - 5 week-long trips alone as a young man, and how the city's speech, its very grammar, unfolded and changed him. Ernest Hemingway noted that to be "in Paris as a young man, it stays with you, because Paris is a movable feast." How it moves, and how the feast beguiles, is the subject of this short memoir.
Criticism
The Beauty of French Culture: New Vistas
September 2026
The historic beauty of French culture, French ways, French life have charmed the world for centuries. Its beauty is without parallel, and has touched every corner of the world - bewitching, converting, providing consolation, healing, inspiration. In the past century, many African Americans experienced new vistas of possibilities, acceptance, celebration during trips to France - soldiers in World War I and World War II never left, Black writers and artists, charmed by Paris' beauty, remained, and Black jazz musicians, fleeing a society where their art was often unappreciated, found new acceptance, new opportunities. Yet every vision needs an update, and all cultures must resubscribe with each new generation.
In The Beauty of French Culture: New Vistas, Malik Wilson tells the history of his own seduction by French culture, by Paris, by the beauty of French understandings. But he also laments what may be lost if this siren call is not updated and retold. For to capture the lofty wanderlust of a new generation of African Americans - and Americans in general - the French story must combine beauty with opportunity, freedom with independence. He suggests that the legacies of French accomplishment should spur innovation, a confidence in human ability, and, somewhat controversially, the removal of ponderous bureaucracies. France can once again lead the way, and her exponential outposts, both directly and indirectly, can foist a kind of universal tri-color that again speaks of beauty, opportunity, independence.