Tayari's Blog: Most Recent Entries
February 05, 2010
The Best Reading Series in NYC
And, (cue the infomercial voice), that's not all-- also featured at the events are the genius girls who belong to Girls Write Now, one of the best afterschool programs in country. (You don't have to take my word that GWN is the best. If you don't believe me, just ask Michelle Obama.)
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Category:
Community Service
February 03, 2010
Brother Sister Links
February 01, 2010
My Mama's History Is Black History
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-Ins, in whch twenty-seven black students from North Carolina A&T sat down at a segregated lunch counter and ordered a meal.While it is true that this famous act of courage sparked much of the civil disobedience which changed the history of this country, it was not the first action of its kind. I would like to bring your attention to another sit-in, two years earlier, taking place in Oklahoma City.
In 1958, teenagers in OKC sat down at Green's Lunch Counter and ordered a meal. Among these brave young people was my mother, Barbara Ann Posey Jones.
As Howard Zinn showed us, there is a whole people's history of the United States that we won't know about. Here is the voice of Claudette Colvin, the teenager who refused to give up her seat on a Mongomery Bus, a year before Rosa Parks. Resistance is always happening. It's just not always on the news.
Posted at 11:59 AM | Comments (5)
Category:
Current Events
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.