Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 81

making waves

…brave as winter roses…

I've been writing down bits of verse lately. Last month I went to the garden and saw a bright yellow rose named Obedience. That's a haiku waiting to happen, right? But I couldn't settle long enough to compose anything. Today in the garden I was contemplating the soft jade moss that grows between the cobblestones when I noticed that some rose bushes still have buds despite the chilly temperatures. Somehow that led to the above simile, though I don't quite know where to place it. I thought of Genna and the sequel to Wish that I haven't yet finished. I'm ready to start Nyla's book, but that's set in the summer. I wrote a grant for a book I want to write about my enslaved ancestors who bought their freedom and moved to Canada in 1820. And I've got an academic book—Magical Blackness—the proposal for which is due in January. So why have I spent the entire day planning yet another book set in the Caribbean? Last week I checked the price of a flight to Nevis and then last night I met Terry Boddie, a Nevisian artist who is part of "AQ/Art Quake," an exhibit in Brooklyn designed to "honor Haiti's history in artistic leadership, and address the impact of the January 12, 2010 earthquake." I was at the gallery to see my friend Gabrielle Civil's performance art/installation—you can watch some of it here—but I knew Terry was part of the exhibit and hoped to have a chance to speak with him. I very rarely meet people from Nevis. At the post office last week a woman revealed herself to be Nevisian but she was "going postal" at the moment so I chose not to introduce myself. She wanted to cash a check and three postal workers turned her away from their window because it was almost closing time and they didn't have enough cash on hand. She walked off muttering to herself (quite loudly) about how it was no wonder the postal service was facing bankruptcy. Then one black male clerk sent another customer after her; she came back to his window and handed him her check and ID but within seconds they started bickering…she claimed her taxes paid his salary; he insisted he paid more taxes than she did and then added, "And I was born here!" Which, understandably, set her off: "MY FATHER WAS BORN ON THE ISLAND WHERE THE FIRST TREASURY SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, WAS BORN! I AM PROUD TO BE WEST INDIAN!"

So am I. But I've got a lot of digging to do and outside of my immediate family, the Caribbean people I encounter generally see buried roots as no roots at all—you're a piece of flotsam adrift in the sea. But last night Terry talked about his connection to Nevis (where he spent the first fifteen years of his life) and how he sometimes uses hair in his work. "Because it's in your DNA," he said, "and your blood." What binds us to a particular place? And what gives us the right to call that place "home"? For me, I had to spend time in Brooklyn; I had to watch the seasons change and become part of the history of this place. I wrote about Brooklyn before I moved here, but I couldn't truly weave a compelling narrative until I knew the city intimately. I need to develop that kind of intimacy with Nevis, and meeting Terry last night gives me hope. To some, I will always be an outsider. But not to all. Maybe people from a small island are too accustomed to being dismissed to be dismissive themselves. Time to test the waters…

the end!

Of course, it's not the end really because I still have exams to mark and final grades to calculate and submit. And my throat is sore—again—which means I'm probably coming down with yet another cold. But today was lovely because I checked my mailbox on the way to work and found a little box from Edi—it was filled with delicious cookies, which I'm still munching on now! One of my students finished her exam and handed me a beautiful bouquet of purple flowers; another gave me a book of poetry. Others gathered around my desk and told me how much the class meant to them. What more could a professor ask for? I've printed out all the touching emails so that I have proof that my courses do have an impact on students. And I've asked about designing a new course for the fall…though it's hard to think that far ahead. For now I think I'd better make a cup of tea and hope this cold doesn't ruin my pre-Christmas-I've-still-got-baking-to-do weekend.

catching the spirit

I can feel myself slipping into dream mode. When I was a child I tried to watch The Hobbit on TV—for some reason I don't remember my older siblings being around, but I remember being so terrified of the scene with the spider that I ran from the room. When I woke at 5am on Saturday, I went to You Tube and tried to find that animated movie; turns out it was made in 1977 so I would have been around 5 years old. Bilbo looks familiar but I didn't remember it being a musical and everything else about the movie was foreign to me. Still, once I'd watched The Hobbit I moved on to the animated Lord of the Rings...and I was sorely tempted to pull out my LOTR trilogy—but that's for Xmas day. Instead I searched for The Phoenix and the Carpet but could only find snippets on You Tube and the full episodes were available on a download site that looked too shady to try. I'm getting ready to write, which means I'm thinking about my childhood and the ways I responded to magic then…and by "magic" I mean anything glowing, glittery,tinkly—Christmas is the season that has it all: ringing bells, shiny ornaments, twinkling lights, and stories that leave you starry-eyed. Of course, the semester hasn't ended yet so I'm trying to keep everything compartmentalized: baking, tree-trimming, grading, reading, shopping, and endless trips to the post office. Now it's off to the park for some exercise. These peanut butter cookies with kisses are *dangerous*….

the ARCs are in!

This is our second day of December rain but I'm still trying to feel festive—right now I'm baking cookies for my students and last night I hung my wreath on the front door. I also got a special delivery today—advance reader copies of my next novel! So far I've been presented with two covers and neither one fully captured the essence of Ship of Souls. It's an urban ghost story so the cover needs to be gritty yet magical…they're still working on it. In the meantime, this plain cover doesn't thrill me but I'll now be able to share the book with family and friends. If you're an educator or librarian or book blogger and you're already on my list, you should be getting your ARC in the next week or so (directly from the publisher). If we haven't met but you'd like to check the book out, just leave me a comment.

Amazon made a big announcement this week and the reactions have been interesting. If you like my writing and want to check out Ship of Souls, you should know that some booksellers are vowing never to sell any book published by Amazon. I respect the right of others to stand up for what they believe is right—I just wish we could generate as much outrage over the racism that excludes so many unique voices from the traditional publishing industry. I also can't help but wonder how many of those indie booksellers stock children's books by black authors. How many stock books by Lee & Low—can you find Bird in those stores? And how many are open to self-published authors? I want a publishing industry where readers and writers have options. When one door closes, you're not completely shut out because you can always try another. As I said in my acknowledgments:

I want to thank my agent, Faith Childs, who read the manuscript and responded with enthusiasm and encouragement. I also thank her for persisting in an industry where doors and minds are so often closed to writers like me.

Lastly I thank the AmazonEncore team for keeping their door open.

AQ/Art Quake

My good friend Gabrielle will be performing at this opening reception, and what better gift for the holidays than original art!

AQ/Art Quake Exhibit Opening Reception

Join Haiti Cultural Exchange on Friday, December 16th at the Five Myles Gallery at 6:00 PM for the latest event in our AQ/Art Quake collaboration!

AQ/ArtQuake is a group of 10 internationally known artists who have contributed to a portfolio of original contemporary prints available for collection. ArtQuake honors Haiti's history in artistic leadership and addresses the impact of the January 12, 2010 earthquake on the nation's visual art community. Read an essay by André Juste that captures the essence of the mission of the ArtQuake portfolio here.

The portfolios of ten original prints will be available for sale. Proceeds to benefit artists of Kolektif Atis Jakmèl (KOLAJ).   This collaboration has already raised and distributed $1,700.

Participating artists include:

Aurora de Armendi * Terry Boddie * Vladimir Cybil Charlier

Marlie Decopain * Scherezade Garcia * Klode Garoute * Rejin Leys
Cathy Mooses * Juana Valdes * Didier William

This evening will also feature a performance by Gabrielle Civil!

Gabrielle Civil is a black woman poet, conceptual and performance artist, originally from Detroit, MI. Over the last ten years, she has premiered over twenty original performance art works in the United States (Minneapolis, Chicago, NY), The Gambia, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Performance art from her 2008-2009 Fulbright project "In and Out of Place: Making Black Feminist Performance Art in Mexico" included "Muño (fantasía de la negrita)" (premiered at the Performagia Festival in Tlaxcala, Mexico) and "In and Out of Place" (premiered at Museo ex Teresa arte actual). Civil recently collaborated with Haitian artist Vladimir Cybil Charlier-Juste on the artist book Tourist Art and is a delegate for Ayiti Resurrect, a grass-roots organization helping to address "the psychological and spiritual healing of the survivors of the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti." Swallow the Fish, her critical/creative text on race, body and performance art, is currently in circulation for publication. She teaches at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. The aim of all her work is to open up space.

When: Friday, December 16th: 6-9 PM

Where: Five Myles Gallery (Google Map)

 558 St. John's Place

Brooklyn, NY 11238

Admission: Free. Please RSVP to regine@haiticulturalx.org

Come join us for HCX's last event of the year!

*We will have Haitian cremas, rhum punch, and paté*

gifts that keep on giving

If you don't already follow the Crunk Feminist Collective, you should! I've just started my holiday baking (check out my guest post over at Crazy Quilts) so I especially appreciated this recent post on feminist gift-giving practices:

This holiday I would like to actively engage in a more feminist practice of gift giving. I want to give presents that affect the people I love the way these presents have affected me. I don't want to just give presents: I want to give lasting memories.  Also, the less people I oppress, the better.

Some ideas I came up with:

Support local craft fairs and purchase hand made items by local [women] artists
Print one of your favorite photographs in black & white and frame it
A CD of all of the top ten songs on the radio the year your loved one was born
Spread the feminist love by giving a young adult a book written by a woman of color feminist author
Make a book of coupons with redeemable actions: hugs, chores, homemade dinners, back rubs, quickies, etc.
Compile a cookbook of your families' most cherished recipes and include a brief bio of every cook
Make a homemade calendar full of your favorite family photographs that highlights all the birthdays
Seeds, pots, and soil so that they can plant their favorite flowers or start their own vegetable garden
For the new parents: children's books that feature people of color
Dance classes
An autographed copy of your loved ones favorite book
Write their autobiography
Interview family members and ask them to share their favorite holiday memories, make a compilation and give everyone a copy
Make jars full of dry (organic) ingredients of their favorite cookies

Girls' State of the Union

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The Women's Media Center invites girls from all over the United States, ages 14-22, to create a 1- 5 minute Girls' State of the Union video. Five finalists will be highlighted on the Women's Media Center's YouTube channel and a group of diverse and talented celebrity and new media influencer judges will choose the winner. http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/gir...

Like the President's report, the Girls' State of the Union will sum up the condition of the country—with special emphasis on the welfare of girls—and an outline of what the President's legislative agenda and priorities for congress should be.

The winner, along with her parents or guardians, will be flown to Washington, DC to present her State of the Union report at the National Press Club in January.

We will launch the video contest on November 16, 2011 and end it on December 12, 2011.

The winner will be added to our She Source database, an online braintrust of female experts on diverse topics designed to serve journalists, producers, and bookers who need female guests and sources. This is an opportunity to show the country that girls are an important part of our union and play a vital role as problem solvers and media thought leaders!

CHILDREN'S POETRY ANTHOLOGY ON SPORTS

REVISED CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – CHILDREN'S POETRY ANTHOLOGY ON SPORTS




Submission Deadline: March 31st, 2012



On your marks, get set, write! 



An independently published e-book anthology of children's poetry dedicated to the wide world of sports is in the works. 



ADULTS who write children's poetry, including those who are emerging poets, are invited to submit their work. 



We're looking for original, unpublished poems,  written in English , aimed at 5- to 12-year-olds that deal with various aspects of athletics:





Olympics and other major international sports events (i.e., FIFA World Cup)
winter/summer, individual/team sports
winning and losing
amateur/professional athletes
sports fans and those behind the scenes (coaches, refs, etc.)
equipment/uniforms and places where sports are played
sports history and other miscellanea (halls of fame, records, trivia, etc.)


*We are interested in receiving poems written in a variety of forms  including but not limited to the following : couplet, triplet, limerick, haiku, tanka, cinquain, diamante, mask poem, apostrophe poem, list poem, etheree, palindrome, etc. 





Poets whose work is selected for the collection will receive a small honorarium. 





We will contact you shortly after the deadline if we plan to include your poem in the anthology. 



A portion of the anthology's proceeds will be donated to Right to Play, an organization working with volunteers and partners to use sport and play to enhance child development in areas of disadvantage.



Please email poems to Carol-Ann Hoyte at kidlitfan1972 at yahoo dot ca.

2011 Authors of Color

Doret has posted her 2011 list of MG & YA novels by authors of color. If we take a look at Doret's list and mine, how many of these novels feature LGBTQ characters? Can queer kids of color find their mirrors in these books?

READ OUT LOUD 2011

I had a lot of fun at the last Read Out Loud event, and will be leading a poetry workshop based on Wish this time around. If you're in Harlem, stop by! Here's a message from the coordinator, Christine Petro:

We are growing more excited about READ OUT LOUD on this Saturday, December 3rd at PS 92. In addition to author appearances and book signings we have a full schedule of activities for children and youth (ages 4-13) and their parents. Among the highlights, Sesame Workshop is returning as an activity partner this year and Scholastic is the generous contributor of 1,000 books for our book giveaway.

Other activity partners include Barnard College, Bank Street School of Education and Columbia University, all running hands-on, literacy-based workshops, designed to engage families in the creative process of writing and reading. New York Public Library is on site to do library card sign-ups and a number of other institutions and organizations (20 in total) are taking part to encourage families to read and enjoy books. One exciting new component of the event this year is a Student Writing Gallery, which will exhibit high quality writing pieces from students in District #5 schools. Please check out the work of these young writers at the event!

Morningside Area Alliance holds this event in collaboration with Community School District #5, which includes 31 public schools in Harlem. Our host school, PS 92, the Mary McLeod Bethune School, is a welcoming and friendly learning environment, and we appreciate all the energy and resources they have contributed toward this event.

Location

PS 92, Mary McLeod Bethune School

222 W. 134th Street

Between 7th Ave. (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd) and 8th Ave. (Frederick Douglass Blvd)

New York, NY 10030

Main entrance is underneath scaffolding.

Transit/Parking

The nearest train is the C train at 135th Street/St. Nicholas Ave. or the 2/3 on 135th Street/Lenox Ave. There does not appear to be any planned service changes for these trains.

You may find street parking nearby, or the nearest parking garage is a couple of blocks away:

Deb Parking, LLC

300 W 135th Street (between St. Nicholas and Frederick Douglass Blvd.)

(212)368-1745

Weekends:

$10 flat rate for regular cars

$20 flat rate for SUVs

Rate applies from 6:00 AM – 12:00 midnight

Social Media

Follow our Twitter account @ReadOutLoudNYC and use hashtag #ROL2011 to tweet about the event. You may also "Like Us" on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morningside-Area-Alliance/248322296888