Hairography: coming to a mailbox near you

I'm not actually done talking about those fabulous YoungArts writers yet. Indeed, for the past several weeks, I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Hairography, the book my husband and I created to celebrate the work of these super novas. Bill took the gorgeous portraits; he designed the book. I encouraged and prodded. The National YoungArts Foundation made the publication possible.



Today Hairography arrives in the students' mailboxes. I am immeasurably happy about that. This, above, is Miss Shelley Hucks, whose beautiful words close the book. And here are some of my words, from the preface:


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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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The thing about being a “master” teacher in the National
YoungArts Foundation program is that there are no rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are invited to come to Miami in
early January, to stand among the finalists of a rigorous national contest, and
to divulge (perhaps) who you’ve been, where you’ve traveled, what you’ve
learned, what failure taught you, what the dream looks like on the opposite
side of the moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a writer who
has experimented with all genres and published in most, as a person who takes greatest
pleasure from watching others soar, as a woman more inclined to listen than to
speak, I chose to invite the two dozen bright lights to see themselves new and
to report back on their adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hairography</i> I
called it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does the stuff on
the top of your head have to say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How will it say it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is
the mood, the tone, the diction, the lexiconical reach?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does the hair manage to think when
it is perpetually leaving itself behind?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is it at peace?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can it know
peace?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find the pronoun, name the
gender, consider plurals and singulars, tense and tone, or don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Write the autobiography of your hair.</div>
</blockquote>
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