Tayari's Blog: September 2005
September 29, 2005
I've been blogging around
I've written a guest opinion column on Maud Newton's blog. It's about the bookstores and the black section. What do you think about all the book by and about black folks being grouped together? And speaking of shelving, remember when I wrote about The Truth Book, by Joy Castro? (Don't worry, I won't make you listen to me say once again how good it is. But it did get a RAVE in the Boston Globe.) Anyhow, it's about her childhood being abused my Jehovah's Witnesses. And guess where it's shelved? Christian Inspirational.
Posted at 07:13 AM | ![[comments]](http://www.tayarijones.com/images/comments.gif){kind=small}
Comments (7)
Category:
The Writing Life
September 28, 2005
P/F Gala: Some Thing Blue
People have been asking me about the three-minute story I wrote for the Pen/Faulkner Gala. If you recall, the theme was Lost and Found. Here's what I wrote. It's called "Some Thing Blue." (If you have a windows machine, you can click here to listen.)
September 27, 2005
P/F: The Morning After
I'm not back yet from the P/F gala in Washington, DC. I just love this town. I really do. The gala was just lovely. It was the sort of thing that makes you understand why they call it a "gala."
Posted at 08:44 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
The Writing Life
September 24, 2005
Manicures and MFAs
Well, I am getting ready to hop a plane to go to DC for the Pen/Faulkner gala. Over the last few days, I've been scrambling trying to make sure my sister who lives in Port Arthur, Texas is safe from Rita, trying to get my students' papers graded, trying to take care of a few home repairs. And I looked down at my hands and feet. Oh no! I had to drop everything and go a manicurist.
You may be wondering what this has to do with the MFA degree.
September 21, 2005
The Pen/Faulkner Gala is this weekend!
Hi! You all might remember me talking about the Pen/Faulkner gala. This is a fundraiser for the Pen/Faulkner foundation in Washington, DC. We're talking black tie here. The writers will each read a very short story- three minutes or less-- on the theme of Lost and Found.
Posted at 07:45 AM | Comments (3)
Category:
The Writing Life
September 19, 2005
Lolita is Fifty!
I happen to know this because I turned on NPR yesterday and heard everyone oohing and ahing over the Nabokov classic. The editor of The New Yorker cooed that it was a "perfect book." Donna Tart recounted how embarrassed she was to buy such a book from a bookstore. And I just couldn't get excited.
September 17, 2005
Deadline Alert!
Hey, I just wanted to remind everyone of the Christopher Isherwood Foundation Awards. They give grants of $3,000 to writers of fiction who have published at least one book. It's not very hard to apply. Click here for more information.
September 16, 2005
"Evangeline": A Book I Wrote a Long Time Ago
When I was about twenty-three, I wrote a novel called "Evangeline." It was about a twenty-something named Fern who was from Evangeline, Louisiana. The plot was that she had come to Atlanta, determined to make a new life for herself.
September 14, 2005
Writing Again...
As you can probably guess, I am struggling with the beginning of a new novel. I came up with the idea months ago... I worked on it while I was on book tour. I have written over one hundred pages, but I have only one twenty-page chapter to show for it. I am not quite sure how I feel about this...
September 12, 2005
White Angel, by Michael Cunningham
I am getting back into my reading-mode. My concern about hurricane Katrina sort of pulled me away from my literature-habit. But you know what, I really NEED to read. It nourishes me.
Posted at 09:23 AM | Comments (6)
Category:
September 09, 2005
Report From the Road: Crawfordsville, IN
Despite the political tone I've recently adopted, I really am a literary blogger. Right now, I am at Wabash College serving as the Will Hays Visiting Writer.
Let's Not Declare Open Season on the Messengers
I've gotten lots of feedback on my entry about Kanye West's outspoken response to the government ineptitude in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people are in support of Mr. West and others accuse him (and me!) of hate-mongering.
Posted at 06:57 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
September 06, 2005
Kanye, The T-Shirt
You just have to love the T-shirt/bumper sticker culture. AFTER you make your donation to hurricane relief, you can go to this site and order your "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" T-shirt. Think of it as your dessert.
Posted at 02:43 PM | Comments (9)
Category:
Current Events
The Compassion of Barbara Bush
Recent remarks by Barbara Bush really underscore the utter lack of compassion and sensitivity by the ruling political class in this country. I wish this was an urban legend, but it's not. Here is a link to the original document. It will make you angry. And it should show you that the suffering people should not count on too much help from Washington. It's going to be up to us to provide relief. I know a lot of folks got paid on the first. Give. Meanwhile, check out the former first lady's despicable remarks:
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston."Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality."And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Posted at 10:23 AM | Comments (3)
Category:
Current Events
September 05, 2005
Kanye, other videos...
Okay, I, the TV-less, have been searching the web for video of the responses to Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to see Kanye West's courageous critique and I also wanted to see Alan Broussard. (Broussard is the parish president who broke down on Meet The Press.) I found a great web site that has all the clips.
Posted at 11:10 PM | Comments (2)
Category:
September 03, 2005
Kanye West Rips Bush
Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have no TV, so I am often the last person to find out what's happening in the pop culture world. So, I am just now finding out that Kanye West went off on the president during a benefit concert. To be more specific,
"George Bush doesn't care about black people" and said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."
As you can imagine there has been a bit of a brouhahaha. But here's my take on young Brother West.
Posted at 10:35 AM | Comments (21)
Category:
Current Events
September 02, 2005
Make A Donation, I'll Send You A Book
I have an idea:
If you make a donation to help with Hurricane Katrina Relief, I'll send you a signed hardcover copy of one my books-- Leaving Atlanta or The Untelling.
If you donate through Network For Good, they will give you a nice email receipt that you can forward to me (and use for your taxes.) If you already have Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling, I'd be glad to sign the book for a friend and mail it directly to that person.
Posted at 09:47 AM | Comments (5)
Category:
Current Events