Tayari's Blog: January 2010
January 31, 2010
Voices Summer Workshops
It's time to apply to Voices, the exciting summer workshops for writers of color held at The University of San Francisco. I went to Voices, (aka VONA) as a student about ten years ago and it's been a thrill to watch the program grow. I can't tell you how honored I am to have been invited to join the faculty for this coming summer.
I'll be teaching a one week fiction course from June 20-26. Other faculty members include Mat Johnson, Chris Abani, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Suheir Hammad, David Mura, Tannarive Due, Elmaz Abinader, M. Evelina Galang, Ruth Forman, and more! You can visit the website for more information.
And, also, check out this guest post by LeConte Dill and Terri Elam about their amazing experience attending the workshops, "VONA Saved My Life."
January 29, 2010
Life Is Like A Crooked Sweater
I'm working hard to revise my new novel, THE SILVER GIRL. I am having all kinds of trouble with the end. As I always tell my students, a problem with the end is a symptom. The real problem is the middle. Once you get the middle right, the end will show itself to you.
A metaphor: Have you ever gotten confused and buttoned your sweater up wrong? When you get to the end, there's a button, but no hole left or vice versa. The only way to fix the problem is to get the whole sweater realigned
My editor pointed out a pacing problem about 3/4 way through the manuscript. I dragged out a scene that took place in about three hours to three chapters-- 37 pages total. I went through, mercilessly cutting. It almost killed me, but I weeded out ten pages-- 26000 words. Included in these words was my favorite line in the whole novel.
Mourning that perfect sentence, the flag on my computer is at half mast, but I am still pushing on.
January 28, 2010
Goodbye To A People's Hero
Howard Zinn passed away last night at the age of 87. He died of a heart attack while traveling. His landmark work, A People's History of the United States, was meant to be a small publication-- only 5,000 copies were printed-- but it has sold over a million copies, each year selling more copies than the year before. The People's History is American history told from a left-wing point of view, highlighting the stories of people not in power.
The video below is Alice Walker reading "Sojourner Truth", from the program "Voices of A People's History." Alice Walker and Howard Zinn met when she was a student at Spelman College. He was fired from Spelman when he supported the students who demonstrated for civil rights against the will of the administration.
Mr. Zinn doesn't appear in the video, which is strangely right. It was never about Howard Zinn, it was always about the people's history.
Goodbye, Mr. Zinn, Goodbye!
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Community Service
January 25, 2010
Go, Blue Wagon! Links
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January 22, 2010
I Won't Be Going With You, Derek!
You all are probably wondering what the heck happened to that novel I was writing that I used to blog about all the time. Well, today I am diving back in, working to get to ready to submit to my editor. My mind has sort of moved on to a new project. (I can't talk about it yet, don't want to jinx it!).
When I was working hard generating The Silver Girl, I would dream about the characters. Even when I was stuck in my own personal drama and not really writing, they girls-- Dana and Chaurisse-- would cross my mind. I haven't dreamed about those girls and their mamas in a long time. But still, edits must be done and they must be done with as much passion as the initial writing. As I add trasitions, I don't want it to seem like I am writing the new part in #2 pencil when the rest of the manuscript in written with a glitter gel pen. (You know what I mean?)
All of this is to say that I am going underground. I've gotten this cold/flu/cooties whatever under control with antibiotics so there is nothing stopping me from total immersion in the manuscript. This will be a three-day slam. No blogging until Monday. No happy-houring. FOCUS.
I think I have told this little story before. But my mentor, Ron, used to say that the writer is the person who doesn't leave the room. He says that when good times and fun come a-calling, the writer says, "I won't be going with you, Derek!" That always tickled me. I should get it on a tattoo.
January 20, 2010
Sick As A Dog Links
Why, why, why am I so sick on the first day back in class? Here are some links while I wait for the Day-Quil, etc. to kick in.
Okay, I am miserably signing off now.
January 19, 2010
Bloomsbury's Latest Whitewash
Last year,all hell broke loose after Bloomsbury put a white model on the cover of a book with a black protagonist. (The case was resolved when they put a light-skinned woman on the cover, eventhough the character is described as dark with a short afro.) You would think that after that embarassment, they would be more sensitive. Well, I guess that's what we get for thinking.
Bloomsbury has done it again with Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore so Kate Harding righteously puts them on BLAST.
So really, publishers, if you're so convinced that a book with a dark-skinned heroine won't sell unless readers are tricked into thinking she's white, then just be honest about all of it -- admit that you don't want to risk publishing books about characters of color. Admit that white people are the only audience you really care about. Admit that you don't give a tiny rat's ass about that adolescent girl walking through a bookstore, trying to find a story about someone who looks like her and learning --probably for the umpteenth time that day -- that only white people can be pretty or interesting. But if you're not ready to admit all that, then you need to be putting people of color on covers where appropriate and supporting those books with real publicity and marketing budgets, so they stand a chance of not fulfilling your prophecy of doom
Read the rest, and leave a comment to let Salon know you appreciate this kind of work.
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Exciting Fellowships Available for VSC
Last year, I spent a week in residence at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. I was a little reluctant to go because I had heard that the facilities for writers weren't all that great. Well, they have now renovated the writers studios! The new facilities, which feature large windows overlooking a river, are everything you could wish for.
Before I get to the exciting new fellowships, let me give you a quick description of VSC and how it works. It is a colony-- so you go and just do your writing. VSC provides (tasty, tasty) meals and housing. The thing that makes VSC different is that there are established writers who come in for one week visits. While there, they give a lecture and a reading. In addition, residents get to have a one-on-one consultations and critique.
The catch is that the program is sort of expensive, which is why I am bursting at the seams to tell you about the fellowships.
My favorite, of course, is the John Pavlis Fellowship that is targeted toward graduates of my alama mater Spelman College (and also Morehouse and Fisk)although all African American writers and painters are eligible. There are awards for writers who use wheelchairs and for writers who live in Ohio. Several awards are ear-marked for poets and others are simply merit-based.
There are many opportunities listed, so I urge you to check it out. And get moving. Deadline is February 15.
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January 18, 2010
Poets on Place
I've just been made aware of the book, Poets on Place, by W.T. Pfefferle. To get these photos, WT drove over 20,000 miles in a motorhome to visit sixty-two writers in their homes. (Now that's dedication.) The cover doesn't do justice to the gorgeous photographs, so click to see a few of the photos here. If I had known about the scrumptious book before Christmas, you can bet I would have mentioned it to Mr. Claus. Well, there's always Valentine's Day-- and you know who you are.
King After The March On Washingston
Dr. Vincent Harding remembers Dr. King.:
Perhaps if we follow King carefully enough, we will realize that the official statement of the March on Washington in 1963 said, “This is a march for jobs and freedom." Not for little children to hold each other’s hands, wonderful though that may be, but for their mothers and fathers to be able to work. If we keep going with King, we can more adequately take on the issues of our coming century.
For instance, we may understand how King went out from the sunlight of the Mall to retrace his steps back to Birmingham, Alabama. There, just three weeks later, he was forced to deal with the fact that white terrorist bombers had destroyed a church and the lives of four children.
If we keep going with King, we go into some very tough places. But anybody who is not ready for tough places, isn’t ready for the twenty-first century in America. So I was want to wonder out loud: what was on his mind when he went back to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and knew that that church had not been chosen accidentally; it has been bombed because it was the headquarters of the campaign that he and Shuttleworth had led in Birmingham, and those children were his responsibility. How do you deal with that?
I would like us to move with King in such a way that we take on the difficult questions that a woman or man has to deal with when trying to give leadership in transforming a society that usually does not want to be transformed.
--Dr. Vincent Harding, former King speechwriter and confidant.
(source)
Posted at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
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Current Events
January 16, 2010
On Giving to Haiti **UPDATED**
A couple of days ago, I posted the link to the txt message donation account for Yele, a charity associated with Wyclef Jean. I have since read a number of disturbing accounts that are casting doubt on the organization. Yele has not yet responded to the news reports, although it has been two days. I feel that I should post the reports here because I suggested that you give through the organization.
Looking back, I wondered why I felt such confidence. Probably because Wyclef Jean is a well known personality and is from Haiti. (His group, The Fugees, took it's name from refugees.) It was an emotional descision and the cell phone giving was so easy. Also, I must admit to being sucked in by our celebrity-worshiping culture.
This is not to condemn Yele. Rather, the reasons that I endorsed them had really nothing to do with anything I knew of Yele as a charity, which now seems silly.
Haiti still needs lots of help. I made a more traditional donation through Doctors Without Borders. Democracy Now!, a news source I trust, broadcast a very moving and impressive segment featuring representatives from that organization. On DN the representative from Doctors Without Borders indicated that they already have a major presence in Haiti, so the funds given can get to work immediately. Also, Doctors Without Borders is a international, multi-racial, and progressive organization.
UPDATED: Wyclef Jean responds. His heart seems to be in the right place, but he didn't really address the specifics of the charges against him. I am still putting my money with Doctors Without Borders. The issue is not whether "Wyclef is the truth or not" or whether he is "chosen." I think Doctors Without Borders has proven themselves to be reliable, progressive, and effective with over twenty years in Haiti.
Posted at 02:52 PM | Comments (4)
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Current Events
January 14, 2010
Turn Out The Lights Links
January 13, 2010
An Easy, Immediate Way To Help Haiti
I have just found out about this easy way to help the victims of the massive earthquake in Haiti. If you txt the word "Yele" to 501501 you will make a $5 donation to earthquake relief. The $5 charge will appear on your phone bill. If you want to give more, you can go to yele.org.
Life is already so fragile in Haiti, and to have this on such a massive scale, it's unimaginable how the country will be able to recover from this.
--Edwidge Danticat.
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January 11, 2010
Why I Took This Picture & Other Mysteries
I don't mean to blow my own horn, but I must post about an interview I did for African Writing Online. Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo conducted the interview and he did a very fine job. He and I talked about everything from Toni Morrison, to process, to music, to race, to why I posted the picture you see here. Please check it out.
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Comments Fixed
A few people emailed me to say that they were having trouble leaving comments. (I was wondering why everyone was so quiet!) It's fixed now, I think. If you can leave me a hello in the comments today, it would set my mind at ease.
Thanks,
T
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January 09, 2010
Upstate Girls
In Verse is a project that blends poetry with documentary photography. I wanted to bring your attention to "The Women of Troy" by Susan Sommers-Willet. Susan readers her poetry which is inspired by photographs of working-class women in Troy, New York. I have watched this video three times over the last three or four months. Each time I intended to blog about about it, but I wasn't sure what to say.
The images are intense. I am labeling the video as NSFW, but not because they are sexually graphic, though there is a lot of skin. The photgraphs sort of give me the feeling that I am looking into people's private lives and I am not sure if it's okay for me to watch. Maybe this is why I have delayed posting. Susan is a wonderful poet, I dare you to listen and not be moved. My real question is about the images. Are they too much? Does it into "poverty porn"? Or does it matter who's looking? It seems that this is the precious question of 2010.
The photos are part of a project called "Upstate Girls". The artist's statement is insightful and respectful. And when you look at the photos, you can tell that the people depicted must have a lot of trust in the people making the documentary. I'm on the line about these images. Still, I have to say that I can't get them out of my head.
January 07, 2010
Jet-Lag Links
Greetings from Seaside, Oregon. I am dead tired, but it's only 6pm local time. Please don't let me fall asleep in my risotto at dinner! Meanwhile, here's a little reading material to entertain you while I get acclimated to my new surroundings.
January 06, 2010
NAACP Image Award Nominations Announced
There are so many good books nominated this year. Friends of the blog like Dwayne Betts, Camille Dungy, and Mitchell Douglass are up for awards. Other nominees include Atica Locke, Walter Mosely, Marlon James, and a whole bunch of other folks. (I have to say that it cracks me up that Steve Harvey's how-to-catch-a-man book is nominated for "outstanding instructional literary work." Ha!)
Here's the whole list below:
January 05, 2010
Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Today I received my copy of Wench, the new novel by 
Dolen Perkins-Valdez. I really loved this book. (And what a gorgeous cover!)The novel is set at Tawawa House-- an actual Ohio resort where white plantation owners vacationed with their enslaved mistresses.
I know that there are some readers who are very tired of the American fixation with slave mistresses. I know know where you are coming from. However, this novel is different. For one thing, Wench is the story of four women who are in the same situation. This is a wonderfully modern twist on the historical novel. The four-friend structure, a sly wink at Terry Mac, allows us to see how different women respond to the conundrum of sexual slavery. Never in all my reading have I ever seen enslaved mistresses talk to each other. (Their conversations will give you a lot to think about.)
One of my favorite scenes is when one of the women is saying how much she liked Tawawa House because "we can spend time with our men." Another woman says, "You know he's not your man, don't you?" A Tawawa House, some women play house with their "master" while others plan escape.
This is a hard book to describe. After reading it, I feel weird using the word "mistress." I feel like we need a whole new vocabulary. What do you call a woman who is in a sexual relationship with a man who can sell her kids if he feels like it? Are you a "mistress" if you travel to a resort vacation literally in chains? This book is not romantic, nor is it preachy. Dolen wrestles with the truth and doesn't blink.
The most impressive aspect of this story is Dolen's way of making you unsure of who is right, and who has the best idea. I read this novel is one greedy gulp. The intellectual in me was intrigued by the historical matter. The philosopher in me was roped in with questions about the nature of freedom and progress.
Finally, the part of me that curls up in a slanket, well she stayed up late at night reading because I just had to know what was going to happen next.
