Tayari's Blog: November 2009
November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Mac and Cheese
Last year, I participated in a series on writers and their recipes over at maudnewton.com. A couple of people went back there looking for my contribution, a southern mac and cheese recipe. Apparently, Maud's site is down, so I am posting the recipe here. That's Drew in the photo-- he tried the recipe gave the thumbs up.
Preheat oven to 350. Whip eggs in small bowl and put aside. Mix cheeses in small bowl and put aside.
Boil pasta in LARGE pot and drain off most of the water. While pasta in still steaming, stir in the butter and about ¾ of the cheese. Stir until everything is all melty. Add salt, pepper, and paprika. (This is your last opportunity to taste, so please do.) Next add eggs, and all milk. You can add the onion now, if you like. The whole concoction should be really soupy. Stir, stir and stir some more.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes. It will rise up like soufflé. Carefully open the oven and slide the rack out halfway so you can sprinkle to remaining cheese on top. Continue to bake about another ten minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Take it out of the oven and let it set about 10-15 minutes while it sets.
*Dieters can substitute skim or 2% milk and the butter can be cut down by half. You might be able to scale back the cheese a little, but just use less cheese, not a 2% or fat free.
Posted at 08:11 PM | ![[comments]](http://www.tayarijones.com/images/comments.gif){kind=small}
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Category:
Travels & Rambles
Educate A Woman, Educate A Family
About three or four years ago, I gave a reading a presentation at Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Here is a link to the report I posted back in 2005. And here is an excerpt:
I was invited to Mercy because my novel, The Untelling, is set at a literacy center like Mercy. The greatest honor any writer can receive is the appreciation of the people whose lives are depicted in her books. The appreciation of the people who sit on prestigious committees is what gets a person ahead in her career, but the people at Mercy Learning Center are the folks who keep me honest; they are the people who remind me what it as stake.Imagine, if you will, a woman walking six miles to her ESL classes, pushing a stroller. She can’t read the street signs yet, she just moves from memory. She has never been away from her baby before, but she will entrust the child to the daycare at Mercy so that she can attend her ESL class for five hours a day, five days a week. Imagine another woman who speaks English as her first language but never learned to read it. She goes to Mercy to learn to read well enough to earn her G.E.D., but walks away in a year with a love of literature and the desire to write her own book.
I just got an end-of-year letter from Mercy Learning Center and they need donations to say afloat in these hard times. If you can, send them a little something. My birthday is Monday and if you want to give me something, give something to Mercy and tell me about it.
Posted at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Community Service
November 24, 2009
November 23, 2009
Take Back Your Space Links
November 20, 2009
Poetry Giveaway!
As I was leaving the National Book Awards, I spied a small stack of Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon's poetry collection, Open Interval. I grabbed a couple and I want to give one way to one of you! Leave a comment and I will choose a winner at random on Tuesday morning.
Lyrae is a gorgeous is poet and Open Interval is a beautiful book. I know it is an honor just to be nominated or the National Book Award, but I was really hoping that she would take it home.
Posted at 10:12 AM | Comments (6)
Category:
So The National Book Awards Happened
By now I am sure that you have all heard the news about the National Book Awards. To put it succinctly, white men swept the evening-- all categories, including the honorary awards. It was a tense night-- after Publishers Weekly excluded women from it's 2009 "best of" list and the "5 under 35" were all white, it was hard not to feel a trend.
Of course, the world is complicated. There was quite a bit of diversity in both the judging panels and the finalists. All categories included women and writers of color.
I will admit that I don't know what to make of it. I know how it felt to be a woman writer of color that evening. I had a number of weirdly marginalizing personal encounters that evening. I arrived in high spirits and left feeling a bit deflated.
I want to say something profound here, or help make sense of things, but I am still feeling a little shell shocked, and unsure what it really means. I don't usually like posting when I don't really have anything to say, but I also like to keep my readers informed. So here it is, information.
On a happier note, I did get some cute photos while everyone was still in a good mood.
Posted at 06:58 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
November 18, 2009
Little Blue Wagon Links
November 17, 2009
"F Love" or Why You Should Apply Broadly
This post is a word of warning. In the last two weeks, I have met three talented writers who are considering getting thier MFAs. It's application season and they are trying to decide where to apply. In talking to them, I noticed a common thread-- none of them wanted to leave New York. This is nothing against NYC-- I really enjoy the place, but when you let your love for a city restrict your opportunities, well, you restrict your opportunities. As Rihanna said on Good Morning America the other day, "F love."
Of course there are folks out there with good reasons to be tied to a particular city. Maybe you have family you can't leave, or you have job. That's reasonable. But the I-love-it-here factor brings to mind seemingly-smart girls in high school who only applied to colleges where their dumb boyfriends also stood a chance of getting in.
Here are some things to think about when you are deciding where to apply.
Posted at 07:40 AM | Comments (3)
Category:
The Writing Life
November 16, 2009
Leaving Atlanta in Marie Claire!
In the new issue of Marie Claire, my first novel, Leaving Atlanta, is recommended by Vendela Vida-- editor, screenwriter, author, and cool individual. I didn't even know about it until people started congratulating me on twitter.
Here's what she said about my book:
Full disclosure: Tayari and I were once roommates, and I never wanted to go to bed because her daily annecdotes were so entertaining. Her same storytelling powers are at work in this novel, based on the Atlanta child murders of 1979.
--Vendela Vida
Thanks, V.
November 15, 2009
Logical Links
November 12, 2009
THE SILVER GIRL Has Found a Home
I am so happy to tell you that my third novel, THE SILVER GIRL, has been accepted for publication by Algonquin Books! I cannot express how thrilled I am. No word yet on pub date, as I am still working on revisions with my new editor, Andra Miller.
If I am going to take a bow for this acheivement, I have to bring my wonderful agent, Jane Dystel, to the stage. Jane really believes in her clients. She found a home for my odd first novel, Leaving Atlanta, and has stuck by me ever since. So many of my friends' agents don't call them back, or blow them off between projects. Jane has hundreds of clients, but treats us all with care and respect. Her co-agent, Miriam Goderich, has a degress in Comp Lit. She really gets deep in the manuscript with my and helps me ready it for submission. (She's also good for the occaisional word of personal advice: Dump that guy, for example.)
And of course, I would like to thank all of you all for being so helpful to me as I struggled through this process. I tried to keep my head up, but sometimes I was downright discouraged and more than once I worried that the novel would die on the vine. Thanks for your encouragement and your own reports of success and even your honest reports of your own frustrations.
We've got a community here and I am very grateful for it.
November 11, 2009
Wailing And Weeping Links
November 09, 2009
Congratulations to Sarah Schulman!
On Thursday Sarah Schulman-- friend of the blog!-- will be giving the 2009 Kessler Lecture. The title of the lecture, Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences-- is also the tile of her new 
book which will drop tomorrow.
The Kessler Award is given every year to a scholar/thinker/artist who has made a significant contribution to LGBTQ studies. Past winners have incuded Barbara Smith, Adrienne Rich, Samuel Delaney and other trailblazing minds.
If you are in NYC, I urge you to come out and hear the lecture. Homophobia within families may be the most destructive and personal manifestation of inequality. While I applaud activists for all their hard work influencing public policy, we must also keep in mind that change starts at home.
City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue
Graduate Center, Proshansky Auditorium 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Posted at 07:38 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Current Events
Girls Write Now at the White House
In this photo are Maya Nussbaum (founder and CEO) and Tina Gao (fabulous GWN mentee). Since the whole GWN family couldn't come, Maya and Tina sent a video home to NYC about the ceremony. The sweetest thing was when Tina, breathless and excited, swooned: We received the award from Michelle Obama's hand!
For more information about Girls Write Now, visit our web site. And while you're there, make a donation, why don't you?
Posted at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Community Service
November 08, 2009
Nothing Takes The Edge off Like Poundcake
If you're like me, you have had enough of the constant chatter about the new movie "Precious." The question is whether or not it's illunimating or exploitative. I have seen the term "depravity porn" tossed around. On twitter, @jelani9 said, "I was going to go see the movie "Precious" but decided to just pick some cotton instead.." Other people said it was the best movie they had ever seen. The internet discussions, phone discussions, and in-person-over-coffee discussions have got my nerves all rattled.
So, to calm myself down, I baked myself a 7-Up Pound Cake, a southern specialty. I know it has nothing to do with writing, but things have been way too intense around here. So, here's the recipe. I promise this cake will come out beautiful and will cheer you up.
Classic 7 UP Pound Cake
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
5 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 7 UP
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
For the Glaze:
1/4 cup 7 UP
1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
Combine butter, shortening, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt, and add to butter/sugar mixture alternately with 1 cup 7 UP, beating well after each addition.
Spoon batter into prepared pan, and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a for 10 minutes, then invert on serving plate and remove pan.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze by stirring together the 1/4 cup 7 UP and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is completely dissolved. Punch holes in top of warm cake with a toothpick. Spoon glaze over cake, and cool completely before serving.
Posted at 07:46 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
November 06, 2009
Makes Me Wanna Holler Links
I actually have a lot of links to share, but I noticed a cluster on a particular theme. Many writers, mostly women, are speaking out against the ways that systems of power and opression are affecting artists and their art. These trends are very disturbing, but I am not sure what can be done about it...
Sorry for posting such an intense set of links. I try to keep this blog very upbeat as my goal is to provide everyone with info, but to also motivate everyone to write. (You'll notice I haven't been linking to a million Publishing Is Over articles. I just don't see how it is helpful.) But the issues I am posting about today are important and something that we all need to think about.
November 04, 2009
Girls Write Now Honored by Michelle Obama!
Some of you probably know that I am on the Board of Directors of Girls Write Now,a fabulous non-profit that pairs teenage girls with writing mentors. I got involved last year even though I was so busy that I didn't even have time to make my bed in the morning. I juggled my schedule to give time to GWN because I could only imagine what my teenaged life would have been like if I had been fortunate enough to have a mentor.
I am thrilled to tell you that today Michelle Obama presented Girls Write Now with the "Coming Up Taller" Award in recognition of all tremendous success that GWN has had with our amazing girls. (Details here.)
Our mentees are mostly public school students. 90% are of color and 40% are recent immigrants. We pair our girls with mentors who help them with writing, but also the mentors are role models and friends.
If you ever get a chance to attend one of our events where our mentors and mentees read together. You will feel the love in a tangible way.
In many ways, we are the Little Non Profit that could-- not unlike the Obama campaign, we're really grassroots and have made it work from donations from regular people. Regular people like YOU.
Here's the pitch: We are starting our holiday appeal. The economy is not great, I know. But we need money to keep helping our girls. I am posting a video below so you can see a little bit of what we do. Watch it, then click here and give what you can.
Posted at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Every Girl Needs A Mentor
Girls Write Now mentee, Amalie, reads her poem, My Name Is Not My Sky, at the GWN tenth anniversary event. Although Amalie's mentor is not pictured in this video, this poem was composed with guidance from a GWN volunteer. Our amazing amazing girls and their mentors work together one-on-one for an entire year. In this video you will see a young woman who has found her voice and she has found a community.
Every girl needs a mentor. Help us make that hapen.
Posted at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Community Service
C'est Magnifique Links
November 02, 2009
Newark Get Ready!
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! It has just been announced that this year's 
reading selection for the city of Newark is THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker! I will be leading the discussion.
I'm still working the kinks out of the format, but it's going to kick off with a dramatic reading from the text by Broadway actor, Rosalyn Coleman Wiliams. (She is five kinds of fabulous and is generously donating her time.)
But, if you are in the Newark area, bust out with your old copy and get to reading or buy a new one. The event is Wednesday, December 2, 6-8pm at the Newark Public Library.