Patricia E. Clark is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of English and Creative Writing at SUNY Oswego, USA, who teaches courses on African American, 20th century and contemporary American literature, and Black women writers. Some of Clark’s recent work examines how popular notions of race and gender morph within “classic” literary motifs, narrative structures and genres in contemporary Black American literature. Previously published work focuses on comparative food ways in Africa and the Americas, specifically how gender, ethnicity and national identities are understood through narratives about food practices.