Kibkabe Araya's Blog, page 47

#amreading my @essence & @marieclairemag to get my mind off...

#amreading my @essence & @marieclairemag to get my mind off that debate. #relaxation

That Barnard writer legacy

In my email this week, I saw authoress Alice Walker returned to Spelman College as an artist-in-residence. As a student at Spelman, I learned quickly that Alice Walker was an alumna of sorts — a student between 1961 and 1963 before transferring to Sarah Lawrence College. She was one of my favorite authors with having already read The Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy before stepping foot on campus (I belatedly read The Temple of My Familiar last year). But I wanted to be like her: a famous enough writer where my sorta alma mater would claim me.

While at Spelman, I attended Barnard College my entire junior year and, within the first week, I learned Zora Neale Hurston of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Ntozake Shange of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow if Enuf, Erica Jong of Fear of Flying, Jhumpa Lahiri of Interpreter of Maladies, Ann Brashares of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and other renowned writers had walked those halls. 

This information came to me during orientation week where an alumna author returns to campus to discuss her latest book. That year, it was Jeannette Walls of The Glass Castle. I was mesmerized that all these women produced such influential works and shared Barnard ties. It was better than the one author I admired at Spelman, a college where the arts weren’t appreciated, which could be a reason why the great Alice Walker had left. 

Currently, I’m working on my first real novel, which is set at Barnard with more of New York City, and it got me thinking how my background at the women’s college inspired me to dive back into creative writing. 

(via The 2016 National Book Awards Finalists - The New Yorker)

(via The 2016 National Book Awards Finalists - The New Yorker)

In 'Deepwater,' 'Sully,' and more, name actresses are stuck at home on the phone with their hero husbands

In 'Deepwater,' 'Sully,' and more, name actresses are stuck at home on the phone with their hero husbands

(via Emily Blunt on ‘The Girl on the Train’ Author...

(via Emily Blunt on ‘The Girl on the Train’ Author Paula Hawkins: “It Takes a Great Deal of Trust” | Hollywood Reporter)

Show Talent, Give Back

For the last few months, I spent my weekends at a writing workshop with my favorite young adult author Francesca Lia Block. Now, the summer has slowed things down, giving me time to breathe. So last Saturday, I decided to attend a training for WriteGirl LA. 

When I first moved to LA, my journalism career was my main priority, and creative writing was a hobby. Before securing my post-recession job, I heard about WriteGirl, a nonprofit that works with teen girls to mentor them on flexing their creative writing muscles. As a teen girl, I was discouraged to follow my passion for writing, so I felt the calling to mentor these girls. With my first-generation, low-income background, I knew I could connect to the majority of the girls. But I worried about the references, not knowing anyone who could vouch for my secret hobby. I fretted over it and forgot about it. 

My birthday was earlier this month and, when it comes around, I make goals. I realized the lack of volunteerism in my life bothered me. I hadn’t mentored kids, planted trees, or walked 5Ks for the cure since college. I wanted to give back again. My feet are rooted on the ground with everything stable in my life, so I have the power to give back. Then WriteGirl came up again. 

I applied with references from writer friends and went to the training last weekend. The daylong session was strenuous yet exciting. I look forward to helping girls find their writing voice while they help me in return. Before I start in October, I’m reading “Nothing Held Back: Truth & Fiction from WriteGirl” to see what I can expect. 

(via ‘Sunny Came Home’ Singer Shawn Colvin Reflects...

(via ‘Sunny Came Home’ Singer Shawn Colvin Reflects On Her Powerful, Cryptic Song | Huffington Post)

In fifth grade, “Sunny Came Home” by Shawn Colvin was Grammy nominated for “Song of the Year,” and I had to learn about all the songs in the category in music class. Looking back, I don’t think those songs appropriately spoke to children, but I loved this song. This is a good throwback article. 

(via Here’s How Long It Took To Write Your Favorite Book |...

(via Here’s How Long It Took To Write Your Favorite Book | Huffington Post) The novel I’ve been sprucing up now took me about two years to write. It’s a new adult novel about a college girl struggling with relationships amid depression. 

I wrote most of it in 2013 with adding scenes in 2015, but this entire year it’s been in workshop mode: sharing with other writers and perfecting moments as much as possible for a literary agent to adore it and propel it to publication. 

This article makes me feel a tad better about my time spent on it but also kicks me in the pants to hurry up and get it good for an agent. 

#amwriting today. My inspiration: my “Little Women”...

#amwriting today. My inspiration: my “Little Women” pillow. It’s my all-time fave book. My sister found the book sleeve at @goodwillsacnev outlet a few years ago and my mom converted it into a pillow. Of course after asking if I was sure about making it a pillow because the book sleeve from the 1949 MGM film (also my fave film for the book) is worth $2,000. I had to keep it to remind me how I wanted to be like Jo. #aspiringnovelist #noveling #louisamayalcott #bookwriting

(via ‘Queen Sugar’ Author Wants More Diverse Stories...

(via ‘Queen Sugar’ Author Wants More Diverse Stories About Black People | Huffington Post)

When Oprah announced she was doing a show on the best-selling novel “Queen Sugar” by Natalie Baszile, I ran to get a copy. Well, my definition of running to get a book is heading to the Overdrive app on my Kindle and digitally checking out the novel. I had to wait a few weeks, but at last, the novel downloaded onto my Kindle in late July. 

Once I started the book, I enjoyed the main character’s realness as Charley, who’s trying to support her daughter, Micah, in Los Angeles years after her husband died. She learns in her father’s will she inherited a sugarcane farm, a late investment in his life to buy land in his hometown in Louisiana where a black man owning land was rare. Though the premise was promising, the book lapsed in excitement. There was too much detail about actually taking care of a sugarcane farm, which as reader, I didn’t care about. I cared more about Charley’s relationship with her troubled half-brother Ralph Angel, her grandmother Miss Honey and the romantic one blooming with Remy Newell, who was white. The drama heated up at the end, but once I finished it, I wondered how it could be a network drama. 

Luckily, the day I finished the novel, I was on the steps of a hotel in Washington, D.C. at the NABJ/NAHJ conference waiting to see presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speak. After that event, when looking for more events, I saw Ava DuVernay was going to be at the conference to debut “Queen Sugar.” I rushed to the event and, like any bibliophile, compared the differences in the book. 

Like I was surprised they made Micah a boy, although it is a boy’s name, the girl character in the book was having issues transitioning from California to the Deep South, so it would’ve been interesting to watch. And Ralph Angel is rough but so fine. They made him too good-looking that you like him, although in the book I didn’t care for him. And Remy is black, taking away the interracial romance in the South perspective. But the show cinematographically catches every moment perfectly and beautifully, and the book comes alive, in a different way, but still with the same purpose of shining a light on one aspect of black life.   

I’m pleased with myself to actually have read a novel before its TV adaptation premiered, and I look forward to its impact on TV. Hopefully, people will read the book, too.