Tayari's Blog: Report From The Road: Oakland, California
Posted by TayariJones on February 1, 2007 12:45 PM
Filed under
Book Tour
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Mills College, in Oakland at the invitation of Cornelia Nixon, a terrific novelist and cool individual. In short, I had such a wonderful time. The campus is beautiful, green hills, mountains in the distance, architecture like something out of a romantic movie. But the real treat was interacting with the people.
The MFA students at Mills interact like friends. Most of the time, MFA programs are more like families-- over-run with politics, favoritism, and complicated rivalries. (Remind me one day to tell you about my own MFA experiences, including the time I was accussed of stealing an overhead projector.) But the students at Mills talked shop, and talked life with nothing but respect and genuine affection for one another. The regard crossed racial lines, gender lines, and (gasp) GENRE! (Here's the website for the MFA program at Mills.)
Of course, I have a photo album from my visit. Sadly, I ran out of batteries before we went to a huge family style dinner in Oakland's China Town. I wish I had a picture of the disco-inspired lazy-Susan in the middle of the table. I also wish I could have gotten photos of all the dinner guests. Benjamin's eagle-shirt alone was worth the price of admission.
The visit was wonderful in every way, but there was also a trace of sadness. I asked to check my email and I was directed to the English graduate student lounge which was dedicated to the memory of Amanda Davis, a young writer who passed away four years ago. Time flies doesn't it? (You can read my remembrance here.)
Okay. Enough of that. As Amanda herself used to say, "Back to work, lady."
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There are 3 comments on "Report From The Road: Oakland, California". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by bballmom ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
Hi Tayari,
I really wanted to see you at Mills on Tuesday evening, but I couldn't stay. My daughter and I had visited the campus on Monday when they offered an overnight program for prospective students. We left Mills around 12 or so headed to the next stop on our tour of Northern California Universities. Mills is her first choice. We will know in a week or so if she has been accepted. That campus really is beautiful.
February 1, 2007 02:17 PM
Comment #2, by Teri E-B
as a tayari-blog loyalist :-), it was fantastic to read your entry today and see you along with 3 of my favorite people in the world. but of course miss robyn had already called to rave about meeting you and hearing you read. hope i get the pleasure next time you are in the ATL.
February 1, 2007 10:58 PM
Comment #3, by Ladylee
Tayari, you are such a globetrotter... Sounds like you had fun!
"...the time I was accussed of stealing an overhead projector."
Goodness. You gotta elaborate on that.
I see you'll be reading at The Margaret Mitchell House this month... That's a block from my job, so you know I'll be there:)!!!
February 2, 2007 08:42 AM