Tayari's Blog: February 2009
February 28, 2009
Weekend Linkage
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February 25, 2009
Congrats, LeConte
I am happy to announce that LeConte Dill has been awarded a FLEFF fellowship! I am always thrilled to post good news-- so let me know. Don't be shy!. But I am especially excited about LeConte's news because she found out about this opportunity here on this blog.Congratulations, LeConte. Have a wonderful time at the film festival, take pictures, and see what you can do about hooking someone else up for next year!
P.S. I lost my good news file. If something terrific has happened to you, let me know!
Posted at 07:25 AM | Comments (1)
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February 24, 2009
Apply For the NEA $25,000 Grant! **updated
Do not delay applying for an NEA grant in fiction. The deadline, March 5, is a week away, but the application process is really complicated. It isn't really all that demanding in terms of what information you have to provide, but the on-line application procedure is very very difficult to navigate. One thing is that you have to submit your info in .pdf format. You cannot just scan your printed document. I recommend that you download Open Office, a free converter program. If you have to call tech support, just be patient. Get yourself a snack and be prepared to wait.
This just arrived via txt message from a friend: Make sure you get that confirmation email after your submit your application. I had to send from three different computers before I got mine.
Posted at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
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The Writing Life
February 23, 2009
Congratulations, Tyehimba!
Three years ago, in a galaxy far away, Tyehimba, Rigoberto, and Tayari were all on the faculty of The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I loved these brothers to death, but the big city was calling me so I packed my stuff and made a move for New York. The brilliant Rigoberto wasn't far behind. And now,once again, the circle is complete. TYEHIMBA JESS HAS JUST TAKEN A JOB AT CUNY STATEN ISLAND! I am so thrilled that we will soon be reunited in the city that never sleeps.
Posted at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
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February 22, 2009
Literature And The Crossroads
The latest edition of eJournal USA has just been posted. The latest issue is called "Multicultural Literature in the United States Today." I've got an essay in the journal called "Literature and The Crossroads."
Unlike many of my peers, I approach labels with an amused fascination. As far as I am concerned, the more labels, the better. Tayari Jones is an African-American woman, southern, middle-class, right-handed writer. She is the writer in her family. She is the writer who wears a green sweater and eats crème brûlée for breakfast. I don’t mind being identified by descriptors as long as they are true and as long as I am allowed to choose as many as I like.
The whole issue is really fascinating. Other contributors include Junot Diaz, Randall Keenan, Ha Jin, Bich Minh Nguyen, Diana Abu-Jaber, Sherman Alexie and many, many others.
(The issue looks best when you download the .pdf)
February 19, 2009
The Black Southerner's Dilemma
A friend sent me a txt message this afternoon: “Look at the NYT Book Review.” When I pulled up the site on my blackberry, I didn’t have to wonder long which article she wanted me to see. The lead review today was for “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. The reviewer, Janet Maslin, describes it as “button pushing” and then goes on to make a pretty good case for the description. Here’s an excerpt
Here is a debut novel by a Southern-born white author who renders black maids’ voices in thick, dated dialect. (“Law have mercy,” one says, when asked to cooperate with the book project. “I reckon I’m on do it.”) It’s a story that purports to value the maids’ lives while subordinating them to Skeeter and her writing ambitions. And it celebrates noblesse oblige so readily that Skeeter’s act of daring earns her a gift from a local black church congregation. “This one, this is for the white lady,” the Reverend of that church says. “You tell her we love her, like she’s our own family.
Okay. I’ll admit it my buttons are pushed. These are buttons that have been pushed so often that the letters are worn off. Many of my black female friends have mentioned being approached by white (usually) southern writers who want to talk about their black nannies/mammies. Different people deal with it differently. One sister-poet smiles and says, “Oh, I can see you two really loved each other. Where is she now?” The answer is usually “I don’t know.” My friend is a class act and lets the implication hang in the air. Another friend sent me a furious email after being forced to listen to another (white southern) poet wav nostalgically about her wet nurse. “Wet nurse!” I said, “She’s our age and she had a WET NURSE?!?!” So anyway, all this is to say that the review of "The Help" almost made me gag on my red-velevet cupcake.
You could see this daming review as asign of capital-CH Change at the NYT. But when I thought about it for a second, the whole thing seemed to be part of a familiar narrative. And this is what I am calling the dilemma of the black southerner, DBS for short.
I am pretty sure that “The Help” is a crazy problematic racist novel. I am pretty sure that Janet Maslin is sincere in her outrage about it. I know that black domestic workers with golden hearts play big in the southern chick-lit field. I know that black men with similar hearts (and bodies to match!) also are staples in the genre. And yes, it drives me nuts. And if I were to read the very same review in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I would be perfectly comfortable enjoying the black-ink smack down.
However, the fact that it is in the New York Times gives me pause. Since I have moved to New York, I am often asked how I can stand it in the South. “Those people scare me,” my New York friends sometimes confide. Maybe I am overly sensitive, but that sort of thing pushes another set of my buttons. Lord knows that I don’t want to defend “The Help.” It the review is even slightly fair, the novel would still be really really problematic. (I mean, I couldn't even get down with The Secret Life of Bees!) However, I hate the way people “up north” use the south as evidence of their own cultural superiority. (Not to keep score, but the infamous monkey-cartoon was not published in The Birmingham News! The “drunken negro” cookies were in the West Village. And not to be overly personal, but the only time in my life I have been called by a racial slur to my face was in the Marriot Marquis near Times Square. The slur was “tar baby,” if you can believe that!)
It seems that acts of racism that occur above the Mason-Dixon Line are chalked up to individual bigotry and ignorance. But if someone from Mississippi does something prejudiced it is because southern culture itself is hopelessly corrupt. As a southern woman I take issue with this hierarchy of culture even when it indicts people I can’t stand.
So what’s a black southerner to do? I can’t decide which pushes my buttons more: southern racism or northern delight in pointing it out.
Posted at 02:27 PM | Comments (12)
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The Writing Life
February 18, 2009
In Celebration of Writers!
Congratulations to Sarah Gambito, Russell Banks, and Robert Caro-- the recipents of the 2009 Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Award. This distinction is awarded to writers who have made a difference in the lives of other writers.
The awards will be presented at the annual Poets and Writers Gala Benefit Dinner on Wednesday, March 25. I'll be there, serving as a "table host." As I understand it, a table host is kind of like the person throwing a dinner party. But since the event is at The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park, the food will be much better than anything I could put together. There will be about thirty tables, each with a different host. So imagine thrity simultaneous dinner parties thrown by wonderful writers such as Francine Prose, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Conelius Eady, Candace Bushnell, Michael Cunnigham, etc
I can't wait!
Posted at 07:07 AM | Comments (0)
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Community Service
February 17, 2009
Thank You, Kalamazoo!
I so wish I could be there, but alas, I have to teach tonight. But if you are in Kalamazoo-- swing by and email me and let me know how it went.
A CITY WIDE BOOK DISCUSSION: ``THE UNTELLING,'' BY TAYARI JONES, is being held in the Gail Sydnor Gallery, located in the Black Arts & Cultural Center, Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. 349-1035. 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
February 16, 2009
Mama-Love Links on Valentine's Day
February 15, 2009
AWP Wrap Up
I'm back home from AWP. For a minute there I was just too tired to really enjoy myself. On Friday evening, I was like a little kid who is so tired that she just starts crying for no reason. At the same time, I was like the kid who is dead tired but doesn't want go to bed in case she misses soemthing! It wasn't cute, but it was nothing that 8 hours of sleep and room service couldn't fix. Here are some pictures I took on Saturday night, after I got my second wind.
Click mosaic to see the photos close up.
Posted at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
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The Writing Life
February 13, 2009
What You're Missing If You're Not Here
How do I love thee, Blog Family? I love y'all so much that paid $19.99 for one day on broadband service in my room. I am finally blogging from AWP-- two days in. The conference has been high-energy. It must be a Chicago thing, every time the conference in here, the festivities kick into high gear. (New York, despite it's rep, is a really crappy place to hold a conference. Go figure.)
Well, I don't have anything much insightful to say. So I am going to bullet-point the highlights. (photos are in the post below.)
Posted at 09:57 AM | Comments (2)
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The Writing Life
February 10, 2009
Ole To You Anyway
I have never been on the Eat, Pray, Love rah-rah train. I sort of summarized it as So Much Privilege, So Little Time. But I was interested in her TED talk about creativity, success, how to keep moving forward.
Posted at 07:43 AM | Comments (2)
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February 09, 2009
FLEFF Fellowship
I am going crazy between reading applications for admission into the Rutgers-Newark MFA, marking the papers of those already IN the program, and packing for AWP. However, this really cool notice popped up in my email and I wanted to share.
The Fingerlakes Environmental Film Festival is offering a fellowship to doctoral students from under-represented groups. The winners (10!) will be given travel money, room and board, and also a pass to the festival itself. If I was a grad student, I would be all over it.
Deadline: Valentine's Day.
Posted at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
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February 07, 2009
Long-Time-No-Link Links
I haven't posted links in a long time, so excuse me for linking to things you have already seen!
disturbing novel, Like Being Killed. It's the kind of book that sticks with you and messes with your sleep. I always wondered what became of the author and I am sorry that this is the end of the story.Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies
It's that time of year again. The annual meeting of the Assocaited Writing Programs, AWP for short. When I asked a good friend what her plans were for this year's AWP, she said, "The usual: shaking hands and kissing babies." We got a good laugh out of that because AWP reallly is about making connections. (Here's a link an earlier post: To AWP or not to AWP.)
This year, AWP is in Chicago from February 11-15. I've got my ticket, hotel, outfits, etc., but for some reason I don't have that sparkle that I normally have when I'm in the final stretch. Maybe it's just because I am tired from my crazy travel schedule, or maybe it's the dreary weather. Last year, AWP happened to coincide with some crazy personal drama, so it's possible that I am having a flashback. But I really think it's because this year, the hustlers seem even more intense than usual.
My facebook account has been overrun with people sending me "invitations" to their AWP events. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be thought of, but I feel like I am being schmoozed before I have even arrived. When we arrive at AWP, we'll all be given a program letting us know what's happening when. That's invitation enough for me. If a person is inviting me to, say, a cocktail party, well that's another matter entirely.
I suspect that the economic crisis is going to make this year's meeting a little more frantic than usual. It's always pretty expensive to go, but this time it's going to be more a sacrifice and folks are going to be trying to get their money's worth. Also, universities are cutting back on their budgets for readings, etc. so the competition to be included on the roster just got that much more intense.
A friend of mine was sort of sneering at literary writers, alledging that they think they are too "cute" to hustle, unlike commerical writers who eill do anything to promote their word. I could only chuckle in response. Obviously, he has never been to AWP.
Posted at 08:58 AM | Comments (1)
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The Writing Life
February 02, 2009
Feeling The Sun on My Face in Florida
Just a heads up for anyone in central Florida. I'm going to be giving a reading on Wednesday, February 4 at Stetson College in Deland Florida. The event is at 7:30pm in the Gillespe Museum. AND, apparently, students at Stetson get "cultural credit" for attending. I don't know what cultural credit is, but I like the ring of it.
I would love to see you there.
Posted at 01:31 PM | Comments (4)
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Loving Lauren
I've been living in NY for about two years. Sometimes I think I should take myself back to Georgia where I belong. On other days, I think-- oh yeah! THIS is what I came here for. This weekend was such a weekend. I spend quality time with my two favorite poet-boys, Rigoberto Gonzalez and Tyehimba Jess. Those of you in the know will point out that I spent plenty of time with them when we were all working together in Illinois. But NYC has sprinkled pixie-dust on both of them, so it's all different now.
I also got to spend some time with Lauren Cerand, my publicist and friend. Over lunch at Inoteca (another reason to live in NY!) she told me about her new projects. As always, hers are projects with conscience.
Basically, his latest novel, and in his (and others’) opinion, his best, came out last January and got one review before the fledgling indie publisher went under. Was there anything that could be done? I started to write my usual reply: no. I mean, anyone knows you have ten days after the publication date to get at least some initial traction, and you need to get at least a three month lead on planning for that. And then I thought, when did I get so boring?
Posted at 06:29 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life