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Shining a Light on Black Creators

19 Friday Feb 2021

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Happy Friday, Friends! It’s an honor to be Piedmont Laureate. Thank you for the warm welcome and support.

During my tenure, I look forward to offering panels, readings, programs and workshops that build bridges and focus on the brilliance, beauty and hope of children’s literature. There’s power in stories, reading those written by others and using your voice to tell your own. I want to honor both.

Part of my mission this year is to raise awareness of the outstanding authors and illustrators in the Triangle and around the state. In celebration of Black History Month, I’m starting by shining a light on Black children’s book creators who call North Carolina home. I’m inspired by their work and grateful for the ways they empower, captivate and affirm young readers.

There are so many that I’m saluting them in two posts. Part I is below. Look for Part II next week. Please check out their books and consider adding them to home, school and library collections.

Derrick D. Barnes

Newbery Honor Winner. New York Times bestselling author. Two-time Kirkus Prize Award Winner. Derrick has written more than a dozen books for young people that touch hearts along with snagging critical acclaim. His beloved titles include Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut and I Am Every Good Thing, both illustrated by Gordon James (see below) and The King of Kindergarten illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton (check out her work next Friday). Learn more about Derrick at www.derrickdbarnes.com.

Tameka Fryer Brown

With award-winning books including Around Our Way on Neighbors’ Day illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb, My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood illustrated by Shane W. Evans and Brown Baby Lullaby illustrated by A.G. Ford, Tameka has become known for her jazzy, poetic style and picture books packed with joy and meaning. She has more gems on the way including a bio on Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress and the first to run for a major party nomination for president. Learn more about Tameka at www.tamekafryerbrown.com.

Tracy Deonn

She knocked it out of the park with her debut young adult novel, Legendborn, earning a spot on the New York Times bestseller list and winning the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Set on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, Tracy’s stand-out title has been called a reimagining of Arthurian legend and thrilling celebration of Black girl magic. Learn more about Tracy at www.tracydeonn.com.

Judy Allen Dodson

Historian. Archivist. Librarian. Advocate for Diverse Children’s Books. With her poignant debut novel, Escape From . . . Hurricane Katrina, you can add author to her stellar list of roles. In a powerful story of courage, determination, resilience and family bonds, Judy gives us twin heroes who weather a devastating storm outside and the emotional storm of a mom battling cancer. Learn more about this Junior Library Guild title and what’s on the way at www.judyallendodson.com.

Chrystal D. Giles

Her acclaimed middle-grade debut, Take Back the Block, explores gentrification, heritage, friendship and home. It is a Junior Library Guild selection and Kids’ Indie Next Pick. Chrystal’s poem, “Dimples,” is featured in the poetry anthology, Thanku: Poems of Gratitude. Learn more about her at www.chrystaldgiles.com.

Fracaswell “Cas” Hyman

Actor. Producer. Award-winning TV writer. Cas is full of storytelling magic. What a gift that he uses his talent to create middle-grade novels too. His first book, Mango Delight, earned a starred Booklist review and was named a Teachers’ Pick by Amazon. Lucky for us the charming sequel, Summer in the City, debuted last year. Learn more about Cas at www.fracaswellhyman.com.

Gordon C. James

He says this on his website: “When people see my art I want them to say, I know that person, I know that feeling.” Gordon has people around the country feeling seen and loved. His award-winning books include Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, one of the most decorated books at the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards, I Am Every Good Thing and Let ‘Er Buck! written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. Learn more about Gordon at www.gordoncjames.com.

Did you enjoy learning about these creators? Come back next Friday to discover more.

Collaborative Writing x 2

23 Monday Nov 2020

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Friends,

Have you ever written with other people?

I don’t mean in the same room all quietly chipping away at your individual writing — I mean have you ever collaborated during the creation phase, writer’s room-style where you’re together breaking the story, pitching ideas, fleshing out characters, and debating storylines on a shared project? 

If you have done this, how did it go? What worked, what didn’t? What are the pros and cons? What did you learn about yourself?

If you haven’t written on a team, does that writing process interest you? How do you imagine it would go? What’s your ideal collaborative writing experience?

Under the right circumstances and with the right people for me, creative collaboration is my happiest happy place. 

Last week, I release two podcast episodes about writing collaboratively (specifically writing scripted audio fiction collaboratively). I hope these conversations offer windows into two different collaborative writing processes, including what we learned, and tips for other writers who might want to try that approach.

As you’ll hear in both episodes, there are many important ingredients for successful collaboration, including a clear process and goals, flexibility around story, and a general abundance mentality.

Collaborative writing is not the best option for all projects or for all people. However, when a writing team clicks, projects move with great speed and certainty, and participants maximize their strengths and grow in the areas in which they are less proficient. Also, creating together can be incredibly joyful, inspirational, and just plain fun.

I’ll include the links below if you’d like to listen. I’d love to hear what you think and what your experience has been.

(Transcripts available upon request. Reach out to artistsoapbox@gmail.com)

This is the first of two ASBX episodes about writing scripted audio fiction collaboratively. You’ll hear from the Soapbox Audio Collective Writing Team 1 that includes Juliana Finch, Mara Thomas, Katy Koop, and me, Tamara Kissane.
Together we’re writing Jesus Pancake.

132: Collaborative Writing 1: Jesus Pancake

This is the second of two ASBX episodes about writing scripted audio fiction collaboratively. You’ll hear from the Soapbox Audio Collective Writing Team 2 that includes Allan Maule, Ian Finley and me, Tamara Kissane.
Together we’re writing The Last Glacier Hotel.

133: Collaborative Writing 2: The Last Glacier Hotel

Wishing you all the best, and ever grateful for you,

Tamara

A conversation with Poet Laureate and first Piedmont Laureate, Jaki Shelton Green

04 Wednesday Nov 2020

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Breathe, write and listen to this podcast episode with our North Carolina Poet Laureate, the incredible Jaki Shelton Green. Jaki delivers restorative words, creative encouragement, and spiritual succor. It’s no accident that I released this interview on the Monday of Election Week; consider this a balm for your unease and a motivation to claim your narrative. 

Jaki muses about writing through difficult times, retreating ‘SistaWRITE style’, and her amazing new poetry album The River Speaks of Thirst.

Photo by Sylvia Freeman

Click here to read the transcript of this interview.

Listen via the Artist Soapbox website or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and the usual podcisty-places.

BIO:

Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. When he appointed her in 2018, Governor Cooper stated that “Jaki Shelton Green brings a deep appreciation of our state’s diverse communities to her role as an ambassador of North Carolina literature. Jaki’s appointment is a wonderful new chapter in North Carolina’s rich literary history.”

Her collegiate and professional experiences include currently teaching Documentary Poetry at the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies, Visiting Professor for the Carlow University MFA Program, Lenoir-Rhyne University Writer-in-Residence, Duke University Teaching for Equity Fellow, 2019 Barnard College Africana Studies Department Lewis-Ezekoye Distinguished Lecturer, 2019 UNC Chapel Hill Sonja Stone Memorial Lecturer, Taller Portobelo Artist Colony Portobelo Panama, University of Panama, Department of Cultural Resources for Brazil, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Distinguished Visiting Writer, North Carolina Turkish Association, Alhambra Cultural Center in Marrakech Morocco, NC Symphony, NC African American Cultural Heritage Commission.

She is the owner of SistaWRITE and co-partner with Dream Yourself Awake and Vertikal Creative Ventures providing writing retreats and travel excursions for women writers in Sedona Arizona, Ocracoke North Carolina, Agadir Morocco, and Tullamore Ireland.

A FEW ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

INDYWeek: N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green’s “The River Speaks of Thirst” Reclaims Stolen Breath

Buy the album: The River Speaks of Thirst

Watch the video: Oh My Brother

INDYWeek: N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green Mourns George Floyd with “Oh My Brother”

Listen to the podcast: Creativity is Medicine: A Conversation With N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green

NC writers make a Declaration of Love

03 Tuesday Nov 2020

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If you are looking for love, you now have access to 11 original audio varieties constructed by amazing local NC writers, actors, and directors.

The Declaration of Love audio anthology is live and ready for your ears.

Over the last four months, remotely and from our homes, we have written, rehearsed, recorded, and produced The DOL series. That’s 2 producers, 2 directors, 1 sound designer, 11 playwrights, 24 actors, 1 quarantine, and 1 writing prompt – all working together to bring you 11 short audio fiction episodes for free.

We are thrilled to share these with you as a gesture of our love.

I think I speak for everyone involved when I say that it has been a joy to connect with other artists and exercise our creative muscles during this time of isolation and dis-ease.

As I mentioned in the previous blog post, I am consistently buoyed and delighted by the abundance of creativity in our Triangle community.  In 2020, I’d hoped to spread love and joy for local playwrights and the writing process. The Declaration of Love anthology is a project that I undertook as Piedmont Laureate to live out my intention for this year. I hope it does so.

Below you’ll see the marketing blurb and links to each short episode. Scripts are embedded in the show notes if you’d like to see the raw material and/or read along. You’ll see content warnings there as well.

Enjoy, be safe, best well,

Tamara

Love in space, at the seashore, in the backyard.

Love in the future, one hundred years ago, and right this very moment.

Love between family, friends, and lovers.

Broken love, silly love, healing love.

It’s all in here.

The Declaration of Love Project: Eleven original audio pieces written by NC playwrights

Co-producers Aurelia Belfield and Tamara Kissane of Artist Soapbox commissioned eleven NC playwrights to craft short audio scenes based on the prompt “Declaration of Love.”

Though the resulting original pieces span the gamut in style, setting, and content, they all spark our emotions and unleash our imagination through story and sound.

Recorded remotely by local actors, the finished scenes have been lightly sound designed by David Hill, and were released to the public on Oct 27-30, 2020.

LISTEN TO ALL 11 EPISODES (PLUS A BONUS):

The Gifts We Leave: Declaration of Love Episode 1

Game On: Declaration of Love Episode 2

Agape: Declaration of Love Episode 3

Stone Flower: Declaration of Love Episode 4

Love is All I Know: Declaration of Love Episode 5

Open Book: Declaration of Love Episode 6

Dangerous: Declaration of Love Episode 7

Happy Anniversary: Declaration of Love Episode 8

Stretchy Shorts: Declaration of Love Episode 9

Constellation: Declaration of Love Episode 10

Always: Declaration of Love Episode 11

Bonus Episode: A conversation with the producers of the Declaration of Love audio anthology, Aurelia Belfield and Tamara Kissane

Graphing Conversations

26 Friday Jun 2020

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How do people talk to each other? How do we write convincing, real-sounding conversations that convey relationships and character?

Today, I’m excited to share a fabulous writing exercise from Carrie Knowles (PL ’14) that focuses on DIALOGUE.

I love Carrie’s exercise because it is a visual and aural exercise for oral discourse. Rather than writing down a conversation word for word, Carrie encourages us to graph as we listen, then discern the patterns, and ask what those patterns mean for the relationships between the people in conversation. Very cool.

The exercise below is a small excerpt from Carrie’s new writing workbook: A Self-guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on How to Write Stories From Start to Finish. 

If you’d like to complete the remainder of the exercise below and make progress in your writing journey (at your own pace!), then grab yourself a copy of the workbook and enjoy the ride.

*As we stay home for safety during COVID-19, you can adapt this exercise by listening to conversations happening online or in radio and podcast form. You might also listen to dialogue from different styles of movies and TV shows. If you live with family members (as I do), then you’ll have lots of conversations to graph right in your own home!

Excerpt from LESSON SIXTEEN of A Self-guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on How to Write Stories From Start to Finish

 HOW DIALOGUE CAN HELP YOU TELL YOUR STORY 

Dialogue is one of the great tools of writing fiction. So, let’s learn something about how it works and why understanding how people talk to each other can help us develop the characters as well as the plot. 

Here’s your first lesson in writing dialogue. Words matter, but how the conversation is constructed matters more. A well-constructed dialogue can define relationships between characters and explain the underlying story. In short, great dialogue shows more than it tells.

Here’s an exercise that can help you sort out this concept. 

Go to a coffee shop or some other busy place where people are talking. Listen to how people are talking to each other rather than what they are saying. Pay attention to the rhythm of the conversation. 

As you listen, draw lines. Set it up like a dialogue. When the first person speaks, write A, then start making a line. Try to mimic the speed of each person talking as you move your pencil across the page.  The faster someone talks, the faster you draw your line. 

When the next person speaks, go down a space and write B then start a second line. Go back and forth between the two speakers. Your page should look something like this: 

A______________________

B_____________________________________________________________________________

A______________________

B_____________________________

Use a question mark (?) to indicate someone has asked a question and an exclamation point (!) when someone has shouted or raised his or her voice or gave an emphatic response. 

Do this for a whole page. Look at the lines; are some longer, others shorter? Who has most of the short lines? Who has most of the longer lines? Is there a pattern? 

What can you know about this interaction just from the length of the lines? Is one person dominating the conversation? Who initiated the conversation? Did someone dodge a question and change the direction of the dialogue? Do you notice any pauses in the conversation? What might those pauses indicate? Are the two people taking polite turns talking? Are they talking quietly to each other? Is one person raising their voice? Are they laughing? Are the sentences they are using long or short?

What does all this mean?

***

BIO

Carrie Knowles has published dozens of short stories and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and four novels: Lillian’s Garden (Roundfire Books, 2013), Ashoan’s Rug (Roundfire Books, 2013), A Garden Wall in Provence (Owl Canyon Press, 2017), The Inevitable Past (Owl Canyon Press, 2020), a collection of short fiction, Black Tie Optional: 17 Stories (Owl Canyon Press, 2019) and a writing workbook, A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start-to-Finish (Owl Canyon Press, 2020). Her non-fiction memoir about her family’s struggles with their mother’s Alzheimer’s, The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer’s, initially published by Three Rivers Press, was recently revised, updated and reissued through Amazon.

Carrie writes a regular column for Psychology Today: “Shifting Forward: A Wanderer’s Musings”.

Carrie was named the Piedmont Laureate for Short Fiction in 2014. Her short stories have won more than 25 awards, including the Village Advocate Fiction Contest, the Blumenthal Writers & Readers Series, the North Carolina Writer’s Network Fiction Syndication and Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Competition. She has been named a finalist in Glimmer Train competitions six times and was also a finalist in the Doris Betts Fiction Contest and received an honorable mention in the National Literary Awards.

***

FINAL NOTE

Near the end of March, I reached out to a handful of experts to request a quick tip or exercise for people who are writing at home.

It’s taken me awhile to circle back around to sharing what I received, but I’m happy to say that a good writing tip rarely goes out of style.

Thus far, I’ve shared a writing-prompt exercise from David Menconi (PL ’19), and a 5 step revision process from Ian Finley (PL ’12).

 

Virtual Talk Back with RDU on Stage

06 Monday Apr 2020

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Hello friends,

Lauren Van Hemert of RDU on Stage was so generous to invite me to have a Facebook Live interview with her about being Piedmont Laureate, writing during a pandemic, writing audio fiction vs. writing for the stage, being a parent-artist, creativity, and more. You can see the video (1 hour) of us conversing HERE. The podcast version will be coming out in the coming weeks on the RDU on Stage podcast if you prefer audio only.

I hope that you are safe and well.

Sending you love,

Tamara