Tayari's Blog: August 2007
August 30, 2007
Meet Guest Blogger, Tara Betts
You may remember about a year ago when I wrote a post about poet, Tara Betts. I had just heard her at a spoken word event in Washington, DC. The event struck me because Tara, who got her start in slam poetry-- even appearing on HBOs "Def Poetry Jam"-- was completing her MFA from New England College. I watch her her negogiate the scene in that DC coffee shop. At just 32, she was an elder in the crowd. I knew there was a story there. When she was invited to the 2007 National Poetry Slam to participate in "Legends of Slam" I asked her to bring a report back. To be honest, I was anticpating a piece that I could title "Life After Slam," or something like that. But as always, Tara avoids the obvious and the simple. You'll find her post below.
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Category:
The Writing Life
Its Not The Points
BY TARA BETTS
This is a brief history of slam, from its birth in Chicago over 20 years ago under the direction of Marc Smith who thought most poetry 
readings were too sterile and polite. It is also my personal slam history, and it’s a report of recent history—the 2007 National Poetry Slam. Before I go further, let me make it clear that if you want to know who won The National Poetry Slam, you won’t get that here. “The point is not the points, it’s the poetry.” It’s the slogan that I’ve heard for at least 10 years.
When I came into slam in 1998, I thought it would a great opportunity to share my work with different audiences. My first slam team was Mad Bar-Mental Graffiti , the first team outside of The Green Mill representing Chicago. We felt overwhelmed and excited to think we were on the precipice of changing the direction of literature. At first, it led to splashes in newspapers and lots of low-paying gigs and lots of teaching, but it also led to much more teaching, much more reading, traveling and meeting people I never would have met in my small hometown of Kankakee, Illinois.
But even as things were expanding, I knew I was starting to see the ceiling of the slam.
Posted at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Guest Bloggers
August 29, 2007
My How We've Grown
I ran across this digital copy of my first author photo. I took this picture in the year 1999 after I got word that A) my book would be published and B)my publisher would not pay for a photo. (At this stage in my life, I had never even heard of Marion Ettlinger!)I didn't know what to do. A girlfriend said her boyfriend was a professoinal photographer and he lived in New Mexico. I was living in Arizona and I figure that a trip to the next-door state seemed reasonable.
The trip was 8 hours by car and New Mexico was a much higher altitude and it was COLD. Furthermore, New Mexico has a pretty significant tourist trade, so the only room we would afford was located the east side of Espanola-- the black tar herion capitol of the nation.
The boyfriend showed up and took this photo of me against the wall of a Super 8 hotel. I felt fortunate that it came out as well as it did.
Posted at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
Lest We Forget
Two years ago, Hurricaine Katrina decimated New Orleans and the Mississipi Gulf Coast. I've collected some links of artists' responses to the storm and its aftermath. If you have other links, please send them to me.
Not only did our government fail to answer the call of its most vulnerable citizens during that fateful period; it still fails each and every day to rebuild, redeem and rescue those who are ignored because of their poverty, their race, their passage into old age.
I remember, being there at the Convention Center, there was not a single person in sight. There never was in those days. I put my face up to the glass. Inside, it was as though Judgment Day had come and gone, everyone vanished. And no one had touched a thing since. There was an ungodly amount of food, sodas, water, cigarettes, shoes, bedding, these last posessions they had after losing everything else, all of it covered in flies, millions of them flitting about lazily. Two torn pages were pressed up against the window with a pillow. They were from the Bible, The Book of Lamentations.
Posted at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Current Events
August 28, 2007
Summer Report: VONA
Two members of our blog community, LeConte Dill and Teri Elam, have a summer ritual-- taking part in the Voices of Our Nation summer writing Workshops. VONA is the only multi-genre workshop in the country exclusively for writers-of-color. This year’s faculty included Junot Diaz, ZZ Packer, Willie Perdomo, Chris Abani, David Mura, Elmaz Abinader and Suheir Hammad.
Below you'll find a conversation about thier experiences. But before, let me tell you a little bit about them.
LeConté Dill is a 29-year-old with roots in South Central Los Angeles, branches in Atlanta, and leaves now blossoming in the San Francisco Bay Area. A public health scholactivist by day, LeConté has been writing poetry and fiction since elementary school. Her work has been featured in ProperGanda magazine, CityFlight newsmagazine, and others.LeConté is passionate about the power of writing for healing, empowerment, and social justice. She credits her mom, sister, and Nanas for fueling her creative endeavors.
Teri Elam-Blanchard is an Atlanta resident whose poetry has been published most recently in the Cave Canem anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. She is also a poetographer whose photos have been featured in Chops, a book of poetry by Cherryl Floyd-Miller that has become part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Teri, an HRD Consultant and Corporate Coach, is currently working on her M.Ed. at UGA as well as her first collection of poems that VONA has helped bring to life, Southern Black Female.
Click here to read "VONA has Saved My Life"
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Category:
Guest Bloggers
"VONA Has Saved My Life"
TAYARI: Okay, you first, LeConte: How did you choose VONA?
LECONTE: I feel like VONA choose me…in all sincerity. Four years ago, I wasn’t searching for writing workshops, wasn’t subscribed to writing listservs, or reading literary journals. Nevertheless, an email about VONA came my way, and I applied. I realized that I was entering something bigger—a movement. Although I’ve written since I was a child, even minored in Writing in college, I always listed 
writing as a “hobby”—something that I love to do. VONA helped me gain the confidence and consciousness to identify myself as a writer.
TAYARI: And Teri, you have been coming back to VONA every year since 2002. It’s like you can’t get enough!
TERI: My first year there, I was brand new, you know? Even after years of living, I was a baby of sorts. And it felt as if I was given birth to by all of the writers and workshop leaders there that year…and especially by my workshop facilitator at the time, the beautiful Ruth Forman. That week back in June 2002 changed the entire trajectory of my life experience. Each year, I leave different. Each year, VONA has saved my life, so to speak.
LECONTE: Literally saved your life?
TERI: Sometimes, LeConté, quite literally…but that’s another story…another day.
Posted at 07:04 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Guest Bloggers
August 26, 2007
Race and Publishing... again
James Hannaham's recent article in TimeOut New York about race and publishing is the most interesting article on the subject that I have read to date. The piece starts with the fact that hardly anyone working in publishing is willing to talk about this matter on the record.
The article suggests that in addition to the racial issue, socio-economic class factors in heavily. After all, the salaries in publishing are so low, that you have to have money already to afford to work there. And then, there is the connections issue. Entry level jobs are usually filled by candidates who already know someone in the industry which perpetuates a culture of exclusion.
The next point was really shocking. It wasn't that I was shocked by the idea itself, as it had crossed my mind already, but I was shocked that it actually appeared in a mainstream publication:
Nevertheless, if the strings are generally pulled by whites, that creates a more complicated problem. “Invariably,” says Craig, “a black-themed book will come up for consideration, and there won’t be anyone of color to put in an opinion, or there’ll be one, who shouldn’t bear the burden alone. So we all pretend we’re experts. Maybe I’m the only one who’s embarrassed by that.” The end result of such roundtables, one can only fear, could be that the only books depicting people of color that get published are those that do not challenge white assumptions.
My only complaint with the article was on the matter of audiences for literature by people of color. Hannaham doesn't challenge the assumption that literature by people of color is to be read only by audiences of color. Take this quote from an industry official:
“There is a way to make money on books directed at people of color, [italics added] but you need to know how to publish them successfully. If someone has the energy and knowledge, they can do it. But you have to reinvent your machine.”
I can't help by wonder why it has failed to occur to the executives (or the author of the article) that the real way to make money off of books by writers of color is to figure out how sell them to everyone.
Or is that, (to quote another industry type), too "Pollyanna-ish"?
(via galleycat)
Posted at 07:42 PM | Comments (5)
Category:
Current Events
Planning Your Writerly Summer
Mail bag!
Just curious - what does it take to get your dance card so completely filled in for the summer? Do you get a break before you start up the round of applications and inquiries for next year? Can you tell us how much time/effort went into organizing your summer schedule? --AT
Thanks, AT, for your question. Below you'll find some tips!
Posted at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
Summer's Gone!
Bread Loaf is the last writerly event for the summer. Pulling away from the Ripton, Vermont campus, I was reminded of Charlotte's Web, when the whipper whills say "Summer's Gone!"
For people who want to know more about the Bread Loaf experience, Monica Brown, a member of our blog community, has agreed to write up a report. Meanwhile, I'll just give you my impressions as a person who visited the conference in no official capacity:
Bread Loaf is located in Ripton, Vermont, which is not particularly close to any city. To get there, I took small local streets and even a dirt road or two. You'll know that you have arrived on the campus when you see the yellow-painted buildings all along the stretch of highway.
Try and imagine about 500 writers living in a closed world-- the only phone service is a single pay phone near the laundry rooms. This is not the tranquil space of a colony like MacDowell. Bread Loaf swarms with writers at all stages in their careers. Much of the time is spent talking about writing, going to readings, attending craft-lectures, participating in craft classes, and having one-on-one conversations with publishing execs. The only writing-related thing that doesn't happen is actual writing. (But that's okay, you can write about your experiences when you get home.)
In addition to the official work of the conference, there are all 
kinds of social networking and cross-purposing going on. Back in the day, the conference was nick-named (ahem)"Bed Loaf." Though Michael Collier cleaned up the place, there is still enough romantic melodrama to satisfy even the most ravenous gossip-monger.
As for diversity, I'll give this year's conference a passing grade, but not a gold star. Again, since Michael Collier took over almost twenty years ago, the conference has gotten much more diverse. The year I was a fellow (2003)I declared that it was the most diverse writers conference I had ever attended. I imagine that it must fluctuate from year to year.
I was sort of surprised at how different it felt for me to attend just as a visitor. (I drove up to hang out with my friend, Natasha, who was serving on the faculty.) When I attended as a participant, I felt a sort of pressure to make my Bread Loaf experience "count". I wanted to meet people and maybe make the sort of career-changing connection that is the stuff of legend. I returned home emotionally exhausted. (I tell people that you will have at least one crying breakdown during the two weeks on the mountain.) This time, I just went to hang out and I really enjoyed myself much more. I didn't even take my business cards with me. I did things like meet a poet on the roof of my building just to talk. I drank beer by the bonfire. I had the pleasure of running into another writer who shares my passion for The Brand New Heavies, Teena Marie, and Donny Hathaway. In town, I ordered a hamburger that I washed down with a really good bottle of wine. I didn't write a word. Like I said, nobody does. But the first thing I did when I got home was fire up my computer and got to work.
Posted at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 23, 2007
Greetings From Bread Loaf
I'm blogging from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in Ripton, Vermont. I got in yesterday afternoon just in time for the turn-about lunch. On this day, the faculty and fellows act as waiters. Have you ever had a Pulitzer Prize winning poet bring you a bowl of cold soup? Well, I have.
I'll post photos, etc. later. Meanwhile here are a few highlights. Upon arrival, I ran into a young woman who looked very familiar. It was none other than Tiphanie Yanique, whom I blogged about yesterday! Last night, Percival Everett read from his new novel, The Water Cure-- but only after reciting his one year old son's favorite story.
This evening Natasha Trethewey will read from her prize winning collection, Native Guard, as well as a few new poems.
I am having a great time, although the weather is kind of marshy. More details later!
Posted at 02:00 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 21, 2007
Tiphanie Yanique on Her Superpower
My life is kind of nuts now-- just getting home from Callaloo, getting ready to peek in at Breadloaf, and still unpacking.. so I haven't had an opportunity to really address this excellent and important essay by Tiphanie Yanique.
The essay, "My Superhero Secret" traces Yanique's development as a writer and a thinker in a world that doesn't offer much support. She writes about the way women play down thier smarts in writing and in life. She suggests that it is a way to confront the sheer disbelief with which our accomplishment is often met. My summary isn't doing justice to this piece, so again, I urge you to check it out for yourself.
Meanwhile, here is an excerpt:
It’s about being able to protect your own incredibleness when it seems others can’t accept it. It’s a private joke. It’s a quiet knowledge to hold above people when you feel they’ve kept you down.I don’t recommend this kind of strength. It’s a kind of trick power. Isn’t this how women have failed themselves, each other and even men, again and again? We like to play dumb; even us black girls dye our hair blond. We fall in love with men who mistreat us…and we stay with them and say it’s for their own good. We wear shoes we’re more likely to fall down in—and somehow feel more powerful in them. Are women writers any different? I own those shoes. I’ve fallen in love with that man.
thank you, joyous, for sending this link!
August 20, 2007
Links and Such
Posted at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 19, 2007
The Privilege of "Youth"
In November, I will be 37 years old, which will make me 2 years over the hill. The hill I am thinking about in particular is the "young writer" category. Every year there are "exciting" lists of the best new writers under a certain age. Twice this month, I have been asked if I were under thirty-five. "Oh darn," the person said. "I wanted to nominate you for something."
I have always felt a little iffy about such lists-- it's even worse now that I have aged out. My question is what does age have to do with what is new in writing. My concern has grown as I have worked with many fine writers who are over 35, over 45, over 55, who are busy writing thier first novels. These writers are certainly new writers, but they are not going to be eligible for these splashy lists.
I now am wondering if these lists are inherently biased in terms of socio-economic class. Think about it. Most of what anyone, not just writers, accomplish at a young age has much to do with that person's family background. It takes a few years for the boot-strappy among us catch up with the accomplishments of the silver-spoon crowd.
Why shouldn't these lists of new writers be determined by the author's publishing history? I know that "Best New Writers Who Have Published Two or Fewer Books" doesn't have the same ring of "Best New Writers Under 30", but it makes a whole lot more sense.
Posted at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 17, 2007
Callaloo Karaoke
Being as our reading was rained out, we had to come up with another way to entertain the troops. Crazy pictures here.
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Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 16, 2007
A Hard Act To Follow
Last night the members of the Callaloo Workshops gave a reading last night on the campus of Texas A&M University. The event was really showcased the talent we have here at the workshops, but also the community that they have formed. I have taken a few photos, but the light wasn't so great. (If you want to see really good photos from the week, check out Lillian's flickr.)
Meanwhile, tonight, in Houston, the Callaloo faculty will be reading. The weather is wet and rainy, but we'd love to see you. Here's the flyer.
Posted at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 14, 2007
Info-train!
Each of the students in my class at Callaloo is asked to bring in a 
writing resource or opportunity and share it with the class. Gimbiya (on the right) and Nicole (in the middle) made thier offerings today. The info was too good to keep to ourselves.
a database of over 1925 current markets for short fiction, poetry, and novels/collections. ...free services we offer writers and editors, including a free online submissions tracker for registered users.
Thank you for sharing with us!
Posted at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 11, 2007
Revision is the Fun Part
Mark S. has posted some thoughts on revision. His discussion revolves around F. Scott Fitzgerald who was famous for his sweeping changes to what he thought were finished manuscripts.
As I am teaching at Callaloo this week, I am thinking quite a bit about process. When it comes to first drafts, I have very little advice. My teacher, RC, used to say, "Do what you have to do to survive the draft." After that, the fun stuff, revision, begins.
One of the best part of being a writer is that you can revise without fear. Just imagine if you were a painter-- if you make a change, you have altered the project and there's no real turning back. But us-- we make a change and just save it as a new file. If you feel you've done more harm than good-- no worries, you still have your original.
Often young writers are afraid to experiment with revision. I sometimes make a suggestion or give an assignment and the student may say "But that would change the story!" My response is some patient of reasoned version of "So what?" Changing a story can be a good thing. And, again, if it's not, you can always go back to where you were.
I wish I could remember where I heard this first: "Revision is like plastic surgery. You come out of anesthesia looking like a freak, but then the swelling goes down, the stitches come out, and voila." During the school year, I often ask my students to show me a revised draft of thier stories. A week or so before thier new drafts are due, they come to my office looking miserable. "I've ruined it," they say. I look at the drafts and often they are sort of terrible. I can tell where things have been moved around, or where scenes have been roughly augmented, etc. "Take it through one more draft," I tell them. "You need one more draft to be able to see the benefits of what you've done."
August 10, 2007
One Week Down, One To Go!
Well, the first week of Callaloo is over. Here are my students from the first session. You can see that they are a nice looking bunch of folks, but what you can't see is that they are really smart.
Posted at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
Blogging Matters!
Well, there is more good news for Kiri Davis, our favorite teenaged filmmaker. She is now the first filmmaker ever to receive the Extraordinary Service Award from the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council! I know it looks like we are congratulating her every time we turn around, but I can't keep good news to myself.
The interesting thing is that our blog community has been cited for the way we worked to get the word out. I must say that this warms my little heart.
(thank you, lauren, for sending the link!)
Posted at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Current Events
August 08, 2007
Five Part Harmony
This evening, the Callaloo faculty visited local radio station, 89.1 FM to publicize our upcoming reading. Imagine this-- five writers: me, Terrence Hayes, Tracy K. Smith, Mat Johnson and Kyle Dargan in one really small studio with an interviewer who has no idea who any of us are. I am happy to report that we had a really fun time.
Terrence, the joker in the pack, started improvising when asked about his process. Midway through something complicated about the relationship between jogging and sleep deprivation and something 
about a monkey and a lion on a desert island, he confessed: "I made all that up."
Tracy K, gave insightful comments about poetry and read from her prize-winning collection Duende. Mat Johnson showed the world why he got that job at University of Houston.. he is one serious brother. (On the mike at least.) Last but not least, Kyle Dargan, managing editor of Callaloo who ferries us to and fro, runs interference when it is needed, and is a fine poet is his own right, held it down for the organization.
If you're in College Station tomorrow, the four of us will be reading tomorrow (Thursday) at 6 pm.
A few more pics here.
Posted at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
The Glimmer Method
The Vail Daily News posts an article today about Pam Houston. I am a big fan of hers-- "Waltzing The Cat" is one of the best short stories ever; I teach it every term. I have had the pleasure of meeting Pam on two occaisions: one was at the Tomales Bay Writing Conference last year and the other was at a bizarre job interview. (She was great, everyone else was sorta nuts.)
Anyway, back to the article. Pam talks about ber process. I've long known that her work is heavily autobiographical, she often speaks of it. The situation is such that the lawyers at her publishing company ask to give a little disclaimer before she speaks, lest her ex-boyfriends decide to sue. (She never disclaims and they have yet to litigate.)
She explains her process of writing as looking for "Glimmers." She searches her memory for the shiny places in an experience and writes from there. In the article, she talks about some of the "glimmers" from her recent trip to Tibet. I thought that was pretty interesting as I am shifting my technique in my fiction classes a little, encouraging students to draw on their own memories. (I used to discourage the mining-the-past approach for fear of getting students hung up by "but that's how it happened!")
OK. Back to the article. This is the sentence that stopped me cold:
Indeed, some of Houston's contemporaries have called her the ultimate cannibal since essentially, she writes her experiences and hardly ever makes anything up. Sometimes she's writing just 10 days behind her life, she said.(bold added by me)
Ten days?!?!? She can write about something that happened just last week?? Whoa.
I have tried to write about memories when they are fresh, but it always ends up being too, well.. raw? This is particularly true for strong emotional content. Many times I had sat down at the computer in tears, trying to convince myself that I can convert whatever disappointment into Great Art. The best revenge is writing well!Well, I cut that out because I could write pages and pages of autobiographical melodrama and end up even more depressed for being such a hack.
Now, when I am upset, I go just for icecream. The best revenge is dulce de leche.
via galleycat
August 07, 2007
B.L.T.L.
I spoke with my agent today, mostly to wish her a happy birthday. Anyway, she asked about the new novel. I told her that it was coming along... then that pleading sound came in my voice. "I'm working as fast I can.. I think it's shaping up nicely. Would it be okay if I have a draft by Christmas???" My heart was churning in chest.
Madame agent said, "Take your time. Let the novel come. As I always say, 'Better late than lousy.'"
What a concise paraphrase of the SOS Band: "Baby you can do it, take your time, do it right..."
Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
I am happy to announce that I am the fiction judge for this year's Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. (The poetry judge is Frank X. Walker.) This wonderful opportunity has been around since 1984 and is sponsored by Poets and Writers.
Each year, the contest is open to emerging writers from a single state-- this time it's WASHINGTON, DC. The winners will be flown to New York for five days-- all expenses paid. While in NYC, they will give a public reading and meet with agents, editors, and publishers.
Truck on over to PW for more info and get your applications ready!
August 06, 2007
Monday Morning Links
Just some things to look at at the start of the week. I'm in Texas teaching at Callaloo, so my posting may be a little slow this week.
Posted at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 04, 2007
Funky Q&A With Abdel Shakur
Abdel Shakur is the editor of Indiana Review. I met him this past February at the AWP Conference in Atlanta. He's a baby-faced brother, with an old-school aesthetic. Yesterday, he sent me an email telling me that he was about to start accepting submissions for a special issue on Funk. I was a little confused.
T: For some reason when I think of Indiana, "funky" isn't exactly what comes to mind. Actually, for me, nothing much comes to mind. Well, the Jackson 5, but that was a long time ago. What has possessed Indiana Review to "Focus on the Funk" ?
A: Well, I should say right off the top that Indiana Review's editorial staff is comprised of MFA students in Indiana University's creative writing program. Although Indiana may not be the funkiest place you can imagine (even though "I'm going back to Indiana," is the hit!), we have a diverse group of writers with some very funky aesthetics.
T: So how did you come up with the idea? And then, was it hard to get it approved?
A: Actually, I really wasn't trying to do a special issue this year. The editor position at IR is for only one year, and a lot of my focus this year is on strengthening the magazine as an institution. But I was soliciting work for the new issue and I contacted poet Thomas Sayers Ellis. He sent me a beautiful series of photographs he took at the James Brown memorial in Harlem. That 
got me to thinking. I saw James Brown in concert when he came to Bloomington last year;he had this energy that was just so, so, good. That energy is one of the essences of funk for me. Plus, my dad raised me on P-Funk, so it's a family thang as well.
T: What is "Funk" exactly?
A: George Clinton said that funk has the power to move and re-move, and I think that's a good place to start. Instead of trying to define exactly what funk "is," it's probably a lot more productive to describe what it does. Funk is completely dynamic and organic. It's all about change and subversion. Like a hamhock in your cornflakes. The purpose of the special section is not necessarily to make IR the arbiters of funkiness, but to offer our readers a range of engaging interpretations of funk. Hopefully we'll feature some work that makes you want to jump back and kiss yourself.
T: If people want to submit, where can they go for more info?
A: You can find more information at our website and blog. When our reading period opens September 1 st (we'll still be accepting regular submissions, by the way) if you have work you'd like us to consider for this special section, please mark it "Attn: Funk Editor". Indiana Review can only contain so much funk, so we'll only be reading for this section during the month of September. Any submissions after that will be returned.
T: "Funk Editor." I bet you love that. Are you having that printed on your business cards? OK, let's play a game. I name something and you say funky or not funky.
A: Okay
T:The Brand New Heavies?
A: Funky.
T: Preternaturally funky.
T: Nina Simone?
A: The high priestess of funk. Check out "Mississippi Goddamn"
T: Golf?
A: It's just not funky. Lo siento. However, Tiger Woods-- despite himself, funky at times.
T: Geckos? ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/37/GEICO_Insurance_Gecko.JPG/180px-GEICO_Insurance_Gecko.JPG")
A: Unfunky. Salamanders-- funky, definitely.
T: Cat Stevens?
A: Possibly funky. They don’t let him fly on airplanes no more.
T: Yoga?
A: No offense to yoga, but not funky.
T: Toni Morrison?
A: Sula’s got some funk.
T: Orchids?
A: Beautiful, but not funky.
T: Kevin Federline?
A: Dirty, certainly. Funky? No.
T: Barack Obama?
A: It's too early to tell. But Michelle, on the other hand, has a PhD in Funk.
Posted at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 03, 2007
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Well, I am busy packing my suitcases (again). This time, I am bound for Texas, where I will be teaching in the Callaloo Summer Writing Workshops.
I am looking forward to the experience. I know that I have lived in so many places, that it doesn't seem so exciting when I say "I used to live there!". Never the less, I will tell you that I have a special place in my heart for the Lone Star State. I lived there from 1993-95.
In those years, I was in a strange place in terms of my development. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but had no idea how to go about doing it. Truthfully, things could have gone either way.
During those years, I held down my first real job-- teaching Developmental Reading at Prairie View A&M University. My students there remain among my favorites. I also wrote my very first novel. I never published it, but just writing it let me know I had what it took to stick with a story long enough to finish a novel. So, all of this is to say that this is a sort of homecoming for me.
And what a wonderful opportunity to go back! Callaloo only accepts five students per class, so we will have time enough to give each student the attention they deserve. (Make sure you apply for next year!)
Also, for any members of our blog community thatlive in Houston, the Callaloo faculty will be giving a reading on Thursday, August 16, 6pm at The Esemble Theatre. It's free and I'd love to see you there.
Posted at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 01, 2007
Summer Report: The Cave Canem Song
by Guest Blogger, NICOLE SEALEY
In 2004, I applied and was accepted to Cave Canem’s (CC) New York regional poetry workshop with Patricia Smith and, as my mother would say, “[began] to smell myself” soon after. In other words, I got cocky. I just knew I was a shoe-in for the summer retreat that same year. I mean, I got into Patricia’s workshop, and she’s an award winning stage and page poet. How hard could it be? So, I decided to apply for—and get into—the summer retreat, and wear the coveted title of “fellow” humbly. All that to say, I did not get in that year…or the next.
Though I’ve been writing creatively since I was eight (even won an essay contest in 3rd grade for my letter to Santa), I wasn’t quite ready to be a poetry fellow. CC knew this and demanded more of me and my work. Come to think of it, I am grateful for that time and the opportunity that followed. Rejection gave me the time needed to ready myself and my writing. In 2006, I was accepted. The third time was definitely my charm.
To prepare I began thinking about subjects I want to write about, writing in different forms and reading, reading, reading. I thought a lot about women in prison and teen-aged mothers. I tried my hand at Sonnets and Villanelles (my favorite form). I read Tyehimba Jess’ Leadbelly, Terrance Hayes’ Hip Logic, Patricia Smith’s Teahouse of the Almighty and others. And, after all that, I was still felt unprepared and anxious—not at all knowing what to expect or what they expected of me. This was just the prep, the warm-up…CC would be the intensive, and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
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, The Writing Life
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