Tayari's Blog: October 2005
October 31, 2005
A Literary Mystery
One of my students just brought this to my attention. Many of you have probably read the slave narrative of Olaudah Equiano, the only enslaved author with memories of Africa. Well, a new book out is suggesting that Mr. Equiano was really born in South Carolina and is more novelist than memorist.
Therein lies the mystery: If the man who penned "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself" was not African-born, but rather an African-American born in South Carolina -- as University of Maryland scholar Vincent Carretta claims -- then who was he? Where did he learn to speak fluent Igbo? And how did he get such excruciating details about life aboard an 18th-century slave ship?
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October 29, 2005
What to Ask A Publicist before You Hire Her
On Oct 27, I posted about how important it is to hire an independent puiblicist. (If you want publicity, that is. If you don't want any, just sit back and relax- you won't get any.) Anyhoo, one of the things I mentioned in the post is that you should interview the publicists before signing on. Well, I didn't really say how a person could go about doing that.
Posted at 12:31 PM | Comments (4)
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The Writing Life
Make a reccomendation, Win a Free Library
Go to Persueus Books and recommend your favorites to a friend! Just partiparting in the process gets you entered in a contest to win a whole free library! Via Lauren, of course.
Posted at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
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October 27, 2005
Visual Artist, Kehinde Wiley
Thanks again to Lauren, I have discovered the African-American visual artist Kehinde Wiley. Here's a great article on him on Andre's site. Wiley is painting innovative portraits of the men of Harlem. The article is lush with illustrations. If you like the article, leave Andre a comment, and tell him I sent you. :)
Posted at 09:31 AM | Comments (1)
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Publicity And the Author
There's an interesting article on Media Bistro about authors and publicity. (Via Lauren) The article is about the need to START EARLY planning publicity for your book. Of course I get drowsy just thinking about publicity (I am all talked out!) But it's true... You have to get out there really really early.
Posted at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
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The Writing Life
October 25, 2005
Leaving Atlanta Goes Back To Press
I've just gotten good news from my publisher, Warner Books. Leaving Atlanta is under-going a fifth printing in paperback!
October 24, 2005
A Bit of Wisdom from Concord
A friend in Concord told me this story, which I think is worth sharing. Two living poets, Martin Espada and Robert Creeely, visiting Concord, went to the famous cemetery to pay their respects to the poets who had passed before them. As they were sitting on a bench talking to one another, a group of toursits literally knocked them over trying to see the graves of Emmerson and Hawthorne. My friend says he was struck that the tourists disrespected the living poets in their efforts to get to the dead ones.
Posted at 04:53 PM | Comments (3)
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October 23, 2005
Report From The Road: Concord, MA
Well, I am in here in Corcord, Massachusetts. I would say that I am here at the book festival, but so far, I have no evidence that such a festival is taking place. I am in an adorable Bed and Breakfast just across from the house where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women ad I have seen a couple of fliers that would suggest that a festival is happening.. happening RIGHT now as I type this, but I haven't seen a thing. My reading is at 3pm. Word on the street is that someone will pick me up at 2:40. I'll keep you posted.
October 22, 2005
Deadline Altert! Bakeless Prize
The Bakeless Book Award from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference is something that you may want to look into. You send your manuscript in and the grand prize is a publishing contract with a major NY publisher. (Houghton Mifflin) One winer will be chosen in EACH of these areas: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The deadline is Nov 15.
Posted at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)
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Hello, I Must Be Going
Well, I am back on my home blog where I belong. It was fun doing The Old Hag, but it's a lot of pressure doing someone else's blog. You know, I didn't feel as uncensored as I do over here. I know it's sort of silly since the internet is an open door, there is no private space, but over here I feel like I am talking to (and talking with!) my friends.
Posted at 07:24 AM | Comments (1)
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October 20, 2005
Oh, My Cheatin' Heart
You know, I feel like I am cheating on this, my home blog, by writing over at The Old Hag. I'll be back over here full-time starting Monday. But come on over to The Old Hag for just one more day. This is what you'll find: A review (sort of) of a new book of poetry by Tyehimba Jess. (It's a biography of the great bluesman leadbelly.... all in verse!) There's a recipe for RED VELVET CAKE! (really, no lie! Check it out!) And then an entry in praise of Karibu Books in the D.C. metro area. Come on.. CLICK! And feel free to comment. The folks on the other site don't comment. It think it has to do with the way that the folks in some other neighborhoods don't talk to the screen during the movies...
Posted at 08:09 PM | Comments (4)
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October 19, 2005
Harold Pinter, The Nobel Laureate
A student of mine forwarded me a poem of Harold Pinter, the new Nobel Laureate. I'll post it here. It's a poem inspired by the first gulf war. (I already posted it on The Old Hag, but I'll put it here too.)
Posted at 02:47 PM | Comments (1)
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October 18, 2005
Time Magazine Lists the 100 best books
I wrote a little bit about this for www.theoldhag.com since I am guest blogging over there. (hint hint). The short version is that Time Magazine has picked the 100 best books in the English language. It's a goofy list, as you can imagine. Pretty predictable choices.
Posted at 02:12 PM | Comments (1)
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October 17, 2005
Come on Over
Come see my new digs. Here's my first post...
Posted at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
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October 16, 2005
I'll Be Blogging Around...
I'm back from Atlanta. The Lillian Smith Awards luncheon was a really nice affair. They gave me a pretty etched glass plaque which I left in Atlanta for my mom to show off to the members of her bridge club. (I figure that HER windexing it and forcing visitors to read the inscription is cute. If I do it, well, it's pathalogical.)
FYI folks, I'll be guest blogging all week at The Old Hag. Make sure you type in the word THE. If you omit the "THE" you get some pretty scary porn.
Posted at 11:11 PM | Comments (1)
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October 13, 2005
Yet Another Snub
Well, I didn't get the Nobel either. Doggone it. I got a mysterious call this morning, from a "blocked number"... I thought it was my friends in Stockholm. What a bummer. The winner is Brittish playwright, Harold Pinter. I was hoping for Lithuanian poet, Tomas Venclova...
Posted at 05:43 PM | Comments (3)
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October 12, 2005
Passed Over Again
Well, it seems like I was passed over for the National Book Award once again. The finalists were announced by John Grisham this afternoon. And the insult is that I didn't even realise that I had been passed over until I read it on Maude's blog! Someone should have called me to cushion the blow! Maybe a personal representative of NBA should have come to my classroom and discreetly beckoned me into the hallways to say, "You didn't get an NBA nod."
The embarassing thing to admit is that I haven't read any of the nominated books. It seems like the books that I read (and rave about on this blog) never seem to be in the running for any big prizes. I wonder what this means.
Today's rave: Sweetwater by Roxana Robinson. It rocks. Broke my heart and then stomped on it. I love a book like that.
Posted at 07:48 PM | Comments (2)
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The Writing Life
I've been blogging around again
Hi, if you check out The Happy Booker, you'll find a guest column by me nad my publicst (and friend!) Lauren Cerand about the P/F gala. I was hoping to have my sound situation linked up so you could actually listen to some of the procedings, so far, I've got it where you can hear it if you use windows. If you haven't visited The Happy Booker before, you should. Wendi is the grande dame of the D.C. lit scene... a scene I shall soon be joining!
Posted at 04:54 PM | Comments (1)
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The Writing Life
October 11, 2005
T.J. in D.C.
I am happy to let everybody know that I will be moving to D.C. next year for six months! January through June. I'll be a writer in residence at George Washington University. It's such a great school, such a great city, terrific department. Who could ask for anything more?
October 09, 2005
This Is Off The Record, Right?
You know, I am not a celebrity. I am not a politician. But sometimes, I have to "do" media. My publicist, Lauren, equipped me with a handy set of talking points to use when talking to journalists. I am a good girl. I copied the talking points down on index cards. I read from them when I did phone interviews. But sometimes it's okay to go off-message, isn't it?
Posted at 10:55 AM | Comments (7)
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The Writing Life
October 05, 2005
The Untelling wins a prize!
Okay, for some of you this may sound familiar. But here's the *official* announcement: The Untelling has been awarded the Lillian C. Smith Award for New Voices. I'm pretty excited about it. Lillian Smith was a writer with a conscience, which, I think, is the most important attribute of a writer. Past winners include Alice Walker, Maddison Smartt Bell, Ernest Gaines. The awards ceremony is October 15th in Athens, GA.
October 03, 2005
August Wilson has passed away
The great playwright, August Wilson, has died at age sixty. Say a prayer, light a candle, wish him well on his journey.
Posted at 06:50 AM | Comments (0)
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Current Events
October 01, 2005
Book suggestions?
If you look at my appearances pages, you'll see I have been traveling like a crazy woman. And all that travel means lots of time on airplanes, which means that I have read a lot of books. This is good as books are good, but it also means that my "to be read" shelf is running low. If you've read something good lately, let me know what it is. Meanwhile, I'll let you know what I've been looking at: