Clik here to view.
In Defense of Nicki Minaj
Last night, when I told my husband I plan to be Nicki Minaj for Halloween (world’s cheapest costume: pink wig, tight pants, exuberant makeup), he went off:...
View ArticleSubmission Opportunity
Bat City Review, a literary journal out of U-Texas’s creative writing program, wants your poetry & fiction (by Nov.1). One of the editors there, Laura M. Dixon, is the only person I’ve ever met who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Invisible Woman?
Ok, so this is depressing: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-thinker/201012/are-black-women-invisible The Always Visible Grace Jones
View ArticleClik here to view.
Prisoners: The Only People Who Still Write Letters
At least that’s what the Times says: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/business/media/08jailmail.html?hpw I’ve been writing a lot of thank you notes lately, and I realize–I no longer remember how to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Returning to Places You’ve Once Been…
was the title of a story I published a few years ago. The story was about a woman who goes to a bar and runs into a younger version of herself, a self she is both ashamed and proud of…I think rereading...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Voice
I’ve spent the last few months thinking a lot about voice—and how voice is even more essential to a person’s identity than appearance. You pick up a phone, hear someone’s voice, and with just a...
View ArticleNominations for Asian American Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominate a writer for the Asian American Lifetime Achievement Award! Deadline: Friday, July 22, 2011, 7PM. Visit the Asian American Writers Workshop at http://www.aaww.org/
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Writers Write What You Wish You’d Written
Murakami is kind of like my long, lost identical twin, except he’s Asian and I’m African-American; I’m female and he’s male; he’s a genius who writes magical fiction, and I’m just a person who’s in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Incurable Addiction: The Internet (and cake pops)
Ok, I’m not the only one: there’s a bunch of angry people stomping in and out of my building because Time Warner has inexplicably not fixed the wiring problem and no one can go online. This is so evil....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coming soon…
I’m 5′10 and have feet so big that if I ever got lost in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, I could use those big-ass feet to paddle my way home. Needless to say, I was kind of awkward growing up....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big Ideas in Small Gestures
I’ve been reading Victor LaValle’s latest, Devil in Silver, and there’s a reason why he’s one of the most talented writers out there today—he’s manages to capture humanity, a genuine emotion or idea,...
View ArticleThe Problem with Blogging
When you don’t blog for six months or so, your website acts crazy the moment you try! (I’ve been a naughty blogger, a very bad girl, but am looking forward to blogging faithfully from now on.)
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nnedi Okorafor’s Use of Myth
When I picked up Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, it was as though mayonaise had been destroyed, game show host Alex Trebek had retired, the actor Idris Elba had developed a sudden fetish for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coming soon…A Harlem Coworking Space/Here Now…Talk Fuzion
When work was being done on our building and we lost our Internet a few months back, I realized that one cannot live–nor write–by Starbucks alone…I’m now in the process of developing a coworking space...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thank you, Mr. Matt Shampine & Mr. Benjamin Dyett
As I seek to open a co-working space in Harlem, I want to thank New York’s tech and co-working community space for offering guidance and support. A beautiful, comfortable, and affordable place is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Already Birthed?”
Years ago, novelist Edwidge Danticat generously gave a writing workshop and talk to students at Spelman College. We had been reading Danticat’s Krik? Krak! in Professor Opal Moore’s creative writing...
View ArticleKweli Fundraiser
Please support the literary journal Kweli! On Wed., July 10th, they will have their annual fundraiser at 10 Jay Street, Brooklyn. Go & show your support for the good work Laura Pegram & Kweli...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coming soon…Adventures in Boogieland
Audrey Bey has written a middle grade novel, Adventures in Boogieland, scheduled for publication this summer. It contains allusions to “James Brown, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Psychology of Characters
A while ago, I was working on a story with a protagonist who was a little…off. The main character was a bully who had neither remorse nor empathy nor friends, and while such a character seems...
View ArticleStickers, Tweets–How Do You Promote a Book?
Years ago, I was trying to help a friend promote his book, and because he wasn’t touring in my city, he’d given me some stickers to put up around town to generate publicity. I put up some of the...
View Article
