Tayari's Blog: October 2007
October 30, 2007
Tuesday Morning Linka-Dinka
Tuesday is my crazy day, so here are some links to keep you busy.
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Category:
Travels & Rambles
October 29, 2007
Callaloo-jah!
I'm just back from the 30th Anniversary of Callaloo, the finest literary journal in America. Yes, you heard me, the finest. I know that there are others more fashionable right now, but if you look at the 30 years of Callaloo, you will know what I'm talking about. (Side note: they have the full archive at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore.)
The conference was four days and made up of panels readings, etc. I gave a reading along with David Wright and Emily Raboteau. The higlight of the 
conference was the triple play poetry reading on Friday night featuring more Pulitzer winners that you could shake a stick at. The line-up was Yusef Komunyakaa, Caryl Philips, and blog-beloved Natasha Trethewey. Let's just say they made it clear why art is important.
Now here is a top-secret poetry reading survival tip provided by Major Jackson. If the Q&A is going on so long that you are afraid you will be late for your reservation at a very swanky restuarant, what do you do? Well, according to Mr. Jackson, you just start clapping for no reason at all. The audience will follow and then everyone will leave happy. Trust me. It works.
Other highlights were that I got to reconnect with Ms. Paule Marshall who gave my "big break" back in 2003 when she included me in her famous New Generation reading series. (That is a story for another 
day, but it involves a blizzard and me arriving soaked, shivering, and foty minutes late.) Lucille Clifton was in the house as was fiction powerhouse John Edgar Wideman. Prsiding over it all was Callaloo editor and founder, (Sir) Charles Rowell and his faithful assistant, that cute Kyle Dargan.
Yes, indeed, the glitterati were out in full force. I know this is a super serious literary blog, but you have to admit that the Calalloo writers are a really good looking set of of people. Photos? Of course.
October 23, 2007
Got Ops?
Here are a couple of opportunities that have crossed my desk.
Posted at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
October 21, 2007
The Gwendolyn Brooks Writers Conference
I'm just back from the Gwendolyn Brooks Writers Conference in Chicago. This was my first time attending the conference, but I've wanted to check it out for years.
This is the month for Black writers conference. Next year is the Callaloo conference which is a difference scene. The Brooks 
conference is held at Chicago State University and founded by Haki Madhubuti and managed by the excellent Quraysh Ali Lansana.
It was thrilling to have so many black writers in one place. The 
participants were mostly poets. I suppose you could critique this, but everyone knows that poets know best how to party. Not that the conference was all about partying. (Indeed, there was also shopping!) But really, many serious discussions took place with keynotes by Martin Espada, Cheryl Clarke and Ed Robeson. Haki Madhubuti and Sonja Sanchez put on a heartfelt public discussion that ended with both speakers and even the audience moved to tears.
This year's conference focused quite a bit on the legacy of the Black Arts Movement on writers today. Cheryl Clarke gave a keynote on the 
role of women and while tempers didn't flare, there was a feeling of having your hands too close to a hot stove. I suppose it is progress that we are talking about gender in the Black Nationalist movement, without anyone screaming at each other, but I felt like we were all too gentle with each other and failed to get to the beating, wounded heart of the matter.
All in all, this was a really good experience. I'll be back next year if they'll have me.
Yes, I took pictures,
but, as always, Lillian's are way better.
October 18, 2007
OMG, GWN!
It's midnight and I have a plane to catch at 7am for Chicago, but instead of sleeping, I just had to take a minute to post about the fantastic fundraiser for Girls Write Now.
But before I report the night's fabulousness, let me remind you what GWN is all about. Girls Write Now matches at youth girls with professional writing mentors. All the statistics are impressive, but my favorite is the 100% college acceptance rate. And since tonight's event was a fundraiser, let me encourage you to break off a little something for such a worthy cause.
OK, that said, on with the report.
At first I thought the event was for the girls and their mentors, but I was informed that the young folks had already had thier shin-dig at Bluestockings Bookstore earlier in the evening. The second set was for adults only. This was to be grown folks business.
Lauren asked if I wanted to go 
first and I said yes because the first reader has no act to follow. Or so I thought. Before I went on, we were treated to a warm up act from a dancer/actor by the name of Creamy Stevens. Need I say more? The Slipper Room is a burlesque club, so you expect somebody to take off some clothes. I am no prude but I would prefer that the stripping happen after my reading. After Creamy left the stage I read from The Untelling and the audience was very kind and didn't ask me to remove one item of clothing and for this, I am very grateful.
Next was Janice "Girlbomb" Erlbaum, reading 
from her forthcoming memoir Have you Found Her. (Can I say I can't believe she got her blog post up before me!)She read us an excerpt about volunteering in the shelter for homeless youth where she spent much of her own adolescence. Powerful stuff. When that book hits the shelves, it will be on my shelf.
Then came the musical act. Royal Pink. Oh baby! You all know I love live music. I guess you would call them 
an indie rock group. They are four women singing songs about sex, politics, sex, and general female empowerment. I loved it. I bought their CD and a shirt and a sticker.
The evening was wrapped up with Miss Saturn, a hoola hooping professional. And, a cosmo with the band!
Pictures? Of course there are pictures!
Posted at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Living For The City
October 16, 2007
Girls Write Now!
New Yorkers, don't forget that Thursday night is the fall fundraiser for Girls Write Now! GWN is an organization that pairs high school girls with writing mentors. The party on Thursday is a 2-fer. We kick it off at Bluestockings Bookstore (NO COVER) at 5:30 pm and then head over to The Slipper Room (NO COVER) at 7:30 for fun, drinks, music, etc. I'll be reading (also, I will dance, but not at the same time) and so will "girlbomb" Janice Erlbaum, and indy rockers Royal Pink will provide the music. So be there!
And, while you're at it, check out this clip of last year's Girls Write Now reading. The young lady in the video is one of the girl-mentees. I dare you not to be impressed.
Posted at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
October 15, 2007
A New Jersey Moment
New Jersey residents are required to move our cars from one side of the street to the other each day in order to accommodate the street sweeper. (I have watched the sweeper several times, and I haven't noticed any difference in the street cleanliness.) Anyway, I was out this morning in an outfit that is more formal that pajamas and less formal than, say, sweatpants. It was 8am and I just needed to get my car to the safe side of the street to avoid a $45 ticket.
Anyway, I noticed cars backed up behind a short yellow school bus. This being Jersey, everyone was honking like they got paid by the decibel. The school bus was parked in front of an apartment building with its stop signs out. Eventually a kind of stocky man wearing an undershirt and pair of drawstring pants came hustling out with a little girl in his arms. His biceps were covered with elaborate tattoos featuring the suffering head of Jesus and assorted pin-ups. He carried the girl carefully; her posture suggested that she was developmentally delayed.
Observing the line of honking cars, the tattooed gentleman covered the girl's eyes and proceed to make a really vulgar hand gesture. (I was clutching at my pearls!) Then, he carried the girl onto the bus. When the door hissed shut, he blew a dozen kisses at the window as the bus drove away. Once he was certain that his sweet girl was out of eye and ear shot, he made the gesture twice more and included the verbal translation, before returning to the apartment.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
Posted at 11:25 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Jersey Journals
October 13, 2007
October 12, 2007
Book-Award-Season Making You Queasy?
Like many folks, I start getting a little green around the gills this time of year. (There is just far too much annointing going on!) As just a little bit of a balm, I encourage you to think about books that would qualify for the Ridenhour Book Prize given by The Nation Magazine. From what I can tell, it isn't open to fiction, but you have to love a prize that sets as it's criteria:
"books that defend the public interest, advance or promote social justice, or illuminate a more just vision of society."
(via Galleycat)
Posted at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Current Events
October 11, 2007
The Nobel Linky-Dink
Posted at 06:00 PM | Comments (2)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Jackson & Gonzalez @ Newark
Last night, poets Major Jackson and Rigoberto Gonzalzes read as part of the Writers at Newark series. As a faculty member, I was part of the organizing and you know how it is when you are on the committee, you worry, worry, worry. Silly me. These two were 100% professional and 200% talented. In short, they rocked the house and it was a challenging house to rock.
The audience included the MFA students, who, of course, were glad to be there. Also in attendance were some of my wonderful undergraduates who were under just the slightest bit of pressure, and (this was such a treat) 16 high school students from St. Benedict's! Only truly gifted poets could give a reading that had everyone enthralled.
Yes, yes, yes I took pictures. And of course I wore new shoes. For Major and Rigoberto, I pulled out all the stops.
Posted at 10:57 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Jersey Journals
Let's Send Natasha Some Positive Vibes
Our very own Natasha Trethewey is at Harvard today to celebrate the inaugration of Drew Faust, the first woman president of that institution. Natasha will be introducing Toni Morrison at the event, for which she has composed a poem. The event will be webcast. It starts at 2pm, but I have been told that Natasha and Lady T will be on around four. (EST)
Posted at 10:22 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Current Events
October 08, 2007
The Big O Speaks!
Oprah has announced her new book club pick: Love In The Time of Cholera. There was a time in my career when I sort of dreamed of winning the Oprah lottery. Remember when she used to pick books by unknowns? Well, over Galleycat, folks are noticing that the book club picks and getting maler and maler. And Jennifer Weiner puts her two cents in.
I wonder if the great O goes out of her way to make sure that she doesn't appear too partisan to the demographic groups to which she belongs. In other words, does she try not to pick too many books by, say, black people, or say, women, in an effort to seem unbiased. I think we have all been in that situation ourselves.
I have been asked to nominate a writer for this or that thing and often another black woman writer would come to mind. I have been to known to hesitate, Would it look funny for me to pick another sister? But then, I figure, other people have no qualms about picking someone that shares their demographics. And besides, how could I look a black woman writer in the eye and tell her that I thought she was the best pick for the position, but I didn't pick her because she was a black woman writer?
Oh the absurdity of our American (writing) Lives.
Posted at 11:42 AM | Comments (6)
Category:
The Writing Life
October 06, 2007
Weekend Reading
A few links to go with your morning coffee:
Plummer. With her permission, AALBC posted the email she sent to the co-writer and publishers of his new book, berating them for -among other things- peddling smut. What's really interesting about this is that she links it to the debate about "street literature." On her blog, Ms. McMillan goes into more detail. (I must say that it's clear that this is a little more more personal than a defense of meaningful literature, but at the same time, the smut factor is getting a little out of control in many of these so-called African-American publishing imprints.) Thx Eisa for the links.The real black/white problem Justice Thomas reveals is his own binary worldview. Everything is good or bad; everyone is either angel or devil. You might say the justice has produced the world's longest Santa Claus list: everything in America classified as either naughty or nice.
Okay, that's it for this morning. Coffee awaits!
Posted at 07:06 AM | Comments (3)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
October 04, 2007
Thursday Links
Posted at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
October 03, 2007
Who Knew I Was A Dixie Chick?
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting Macon State College via video conference. A few months ago, Professor Sharon Colley emailed to tell me that she was teaching a course called "Dixie Chicks: Southern Women Writers." My first novel, Leaving Atlanta, would be on the syllabus and would I be interested in being beamed into the classroom? As you know, I am always happy to do events in my home state and secondly, I love all things technological.
We had a good meeting. The students went smart and lively-- so much so that Leaving Atlanta, a book I finished almost a decade ago, came alive again in my imagination. When I returned to my office, I really couldn't concentrate on the papers I was trying to grade. Something about the exchange with readers made me feel like a writer and I was itching to work on my new novel.
So, to Professor Colley and her wonderful class, I'd like to say thanks.
(a couple more pix here)
October 01, 2007
More Links on Monday
Two other things, and I'm pretty sure they'll be good enough reason for you to wave this review around to your friends as proof positive that your novel is as pearls before swine: How could anyone be so pedestrian as to question how often you use the word "snapped" instead of "said?" I didn't start counting until after Page 246, when I just couldn't take it anymore, but 17 times that verb pops up -- remember that's after Page 246 -- and three times on one page. It's not just Darius; they all snap like turtles, seemingly incapable of a pleasant sentence.
Okay, got that? On to the next link.
I am a bit confused at See being assigned to me. . .See lets the world see she is clearly a very bitter, confused old lady ("old" only being brought up because of her own fixation on my age.) I had never heard of See until I checked out her web site, which says it all: sometimes the good ol' cat ladies are the catttiest old ladies. . .and if that sounds nasty, well, See, respected as she may be as a reviewer and writer, uses her podium to express extreme dismay with someone of my age, gender, and ethnicity writing a book like mine (or any book maybe!), and that to me seems a bit of a violation of good review etiquette, at the very least.
Posted at 04:53 PM | Comments (3)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Monday Linky Dinky
Up and at 'em, folks. Here's a little reading while I figure out how to operate my espresso machine.
Posted at 09:05 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles