Tayari's Blog: March 2005
March 29, 2005
Sweet Pearl Cleage
Pearl was my very first mentor. I met her when I was about 17 years old, having just figured out which was the business end of a ball-point. This was almost twenty years ago, before Oprah came a-calling. Before she was PEARL CLEAGE. When she was just Pearl, the only teacher at Spelman who let us call her by her first name.
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Category:
The Writing Life
March 27, 2005
PRINTED and BOUND
I am happy to announce that The Untelling has been printed and bound. There's the bell. Round two has officially begun.
March 24, 2005
City Boy By Jean Thompson
Last night I finished City Boy by Jean Thompson. It's my favorite kind of love story-- the kind that leaves the reader, exhausted, vicariously broken-hearted and thoroughly WRECKED.
March 23, 2005
My Plea to High School English Teachers
I don't mean to be another detractor, blaming the sad state of American intelletual life on the teachers in our nation's schools. I like teachers. I really do. For a couple of years in the mid-eighties, I was actually a teacher's pet. I just have one teensy favor to complaint, or shall we say, concern.
March 21, 2005
Sneak Peek?
My publisher, Warner Books, has posted an excerpt from The Untelling. It's chapter one, but it comes after a prologue which is not posted. So, it's the beginning, but not really the beginning. Think of it like the "first floor" in a building that has a basement. Anyway, you can click here to have a look!
March 18, 2005
And they say chivalry is dead!
A scholar/critic friend of mine is on a mission to save my honor. This is the sort of thing that I daydreamed about in high school. In my fantasy, some miscreant would say a foul word to a shocked, offended, helpless me and then my Romeo, my prince would come and knock the crap out of him. And now, at long last, it has happened. Kind of.
March 17, 2005
Mariah and Me
So, the Essence magazine article is out. I'm in the issue where Mariah Carey is officially crowned at "the most mis-understood black woman in America." (And just think, for all these years, I thought I was the undisputed winner of that particular title.)
March 14, 2005
Screenplay?
Today, much to my surprise, I received a screenplay in the mail. And even curiouser, it was screenplay adaptation of my first novel, LEAVING ATLANTA.
Posted at 08:15 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
The Writing Life
March 12, 2005
Congratulations to Chris Abani
GraceLand, the gorgeous first novel by Chris Abani has won the 2005 PEN/Hemmingway Award.
Before GraceLand was published,I first met Chris Abani over the telephone. I was interviewing him for The Believer magazine. This was before Walter Mosely chose GraceLand for the Today show, before the novel was short listed for every important prize there is. And even then, I knew that good things were just ahead for Chris and his beautiful book.
March 08, 2005
THE THING ABOUT ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS
Conventional widsom is that complaining about your reviews is a lose-lose situation. First, you draw attention to the crappy review that sent you into a tailspin in the first place. Second, you run the risk of seeming whiny (bad) or bitter (worse.) But I can't help it. I've got to speak out.
Posted at 03:02 PM | Comments (7)
Category:
The Writing Life
March 07, 2005
A Changed Man by Francine Prose
I'll admit it, I am crazy about Francine Prose. Her new novel, A Changed Man, has just been published and it is so very good.
March 05, 2005
RIGHT INFO/ WRONG TIME
These are the facts: A) People publish books everday. B) It's a really big deal to complete, let alone publish a novel. These are two things that no writer should ever forget, but the key is to remember the right info at the right time.
March 04, 2005
My Own Private Enron
I often give workshops about writing coming of age stories, since writing from the child's perspective is one of the calling cards of my writing. One of the first things that I'll have writers to remember is that children are not innocent. They have the same range of emotion and impulse as anyone else. If you keep that in mind while you're writing, you'll never go wrong. To prove my point, I'll share a story from my own childhood. Let's call it: My early life as an embezzler, or My Own Private Enron.
March 03, 2005
Suji Kwock Kim
Today, we here at The Univeristy of Illinois had the pleasure of hosting Korean-American poet, Suji Kwock Kim. She's a breath-taking writer. If you get a chance to hear her read in your town (and you will-- she's everywhere, all the time) you should.
March 01, 2005
Report From The Road: Raleigh, NC
I think my recent reading at Peace College marks the official kick-off of the Book Tour for The Untelling. Things are off to a good start.