Celebrating in the midst of chaos
Happy Black History Month to all who agitate, the PEN/Faulkner longlist, the last writer I had dinner with, and more
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GOOD NEWS IN THE MIDST OF…*gestures at whatever new horror horrors is are happening in this country and elsewhere by the time you read this*
Last Thursday night when I started drafting this newsletter, I had a pot of black-eyed peas simmering on the stove. I don’t only eat them for New Year’s, and My Guy1 asked me to make some for dinner. I also made cornbread. And we toasted to my fellowship from United States Artists (USA), announced that afternoon, with Veuve Cliquot demi-sec.
“Overjoyed” and “honored” barely capture how I feel about this fellowship. I’m thrilled to be a part of a cohort of 50 incredible artists, including six other writers.
And yet. It feels wrong to be celebrating while the world burns.
The world burns. I hate that sentence. I hate that at this point those words feel trite and obvious and devastating. I don’t want to repeat this ubiquitous Toni Morrison quote about how to respond at times like these, or this one, even though I have found comfort in them. Because I’m tired of the repetition, of the cycle of righteous rage, followed by a grappling for hope, followed by feelings of impotence. I’m thankful for good news that briefly interrupts the cycle.
The world burns. And I have good news. I eventually made peace with these facts co-existing. Despite everything, we are still creating, we are still imagining, we are still here.
Many thanks to the panelists who selected me for the USA fellowship and to USA. This organization gets it. Unrestricted funding is the dream of every writer I know, and each Fellow receives a $50,000 unrestricted grant to use “for any purpose, whether that be creating new work, paying rent, reducing debt, obtaining healthcare, or supporting their families.” In addition to monetary support, Fellows are also given access to pro bono financial planning, career consulting, legal advice, and personal care services.
USA is fully funded by private foundations and individuals and does not receive any federal, state or local public funding for its programs. So special thanks to the Mellon Foundation, the donor who funded my fellowship.
Finally, thank you to whomever nominated me for this very generous award.
Speaking of anonymous gifts, thanks also to whomever sent me this mug over the holidays:
MORE THINGS TO CELEBRATE
~The 2025 PEN/Faulkner longlist has been announced. I have the pleasure of judging this year alongside Bruce Holsinger and Luis Alberto Urrea.
~Doechii!
~Some unabashed joy from my hometown:
~Joél!
Postcards for the People
Artists Jamila Zahra Felton and Almah LaVon founded a postcard swap specifically for Black folks.
Throwback: That time A Different World featured Nikki Giovanni’s “Ego Tripping”
My story “Love 1992: A Catechism” was selected for Best Small Fictions 2024. You can order it here. I love this cover.
RETREATS, RESOURCES, WORKSHOPS, AND OPPORTUNITIES
~Since 2015, I’ve been a proud Kimbilio Fellow! The application for this fellowship for Black fiction writers is open now through March 15.
~Libro.fm is partnering with We Need Diverse Books to fundraise for those impacted by the LA wildfires. WNDB is providing emergency grants to BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled authors, illustrators, educators, and publishing professionals in LA. Also, more LA fire aid resources here.
~Torch Literary Retreat for Black women writers, all genres; deadline: Feb. 17
~American Short Fiction’s MFA for All classes with Kristen Arnett, Matt Bell, and ZZ Packer (what a line up!) are open for enrollment.
~Speaking of fabulous faculty lineups, I’m teaching with a great crew at Tin House this summer. DEADLINE EXTENDED to Feb. 6
~A few years ago, I had the opportunity of taking a mini-version of Mahogany L. Browne’s workshop, “Do Not Make Grief Your God.” It was a balm. Check it out:
~Freelance opportunity: My Ursa podcast co-founder and producer Mark Armstrong just started a guest editing job at Nieman Storyboard, the site from Harvard's Nieman Foundation dedicated to the craft of storytelling in journalism (across print, podcasts, books, tiktok, etc.). He’s currently assigning some freelance pieces, and one recurring feature is called "Behind the Scenes," where a writer will highlight a passage or scene from a magazine feature or book (or podcast), then interview that writer about how they reported it / crafted it. These pieces will be 750-1,000 words, pay is $300 per piece. Interested? Contact Mark at mark@ursastory.com.
~The Magic of Memoir presents…a six-week memoir writing course with Kiese Laymon, Mark Nepo, Susan Lieu, Joshua Mohr, Brooke Warner & Linda Joy Myers
~Meredith Talusan has a 3-part chess-inspired series on writing, here, here, and here.
~Don’t have a publicist pitching your book to media outlets? Check this out.
~Deadline Feb. 12: “The Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts acknowledge, support, and celebrate writers in [the] nine-state region with $80,000 in awards. The genre for the 2025 cycle is Poetry.”
~$20K DAG Prize for Literature: Applications open Feb. 1.
~Deadline March 8: Nonfiction workshop with thee Nicole Chung
RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation with Kiese Laymon:
Hanif (!) on “Octavia Butler, the L.A. fires, and the uses and misuses of the things that cannot be recovered.”
100 Days of Creative Resistance
PRE-ORDER TIME!
Cover coming soon…
Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights by Keisha N. Blain
If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal
This is Your Mother by Erika J. Simpson
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
This Thing of Ours by Frederick Joseph
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
The Book of Possibilities: Words of Wisdom on the Road to Becoming by Bee Quammie
Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy—and Lettuce by Lonnae O’Neal
My blurb for Bibb Country: “Lonnae O’Neal’s deeply intimate Bibb Country is a revelation, a reckoning, and an elegy that should be taught in every high school and college history class in this country. She unearths six generations of her family’s history against the backdrop of our nation’s shameful legacy of enslavement, sexual violence, and injustice, and its present-day incarnations. With righteous rage and a voice that ignites the page, O’Neal is a wonder and a truth-teller.”
Unless it’s not yet available, I always link to Bookshop when I share books here. Bookshop, if you’re not familiar, allows you to support any indie bookstore of your choice, through your online book purchases. Use this link and get 20% off after your first purchase. AND they just recently added ebooks!
BACK TO THE CHAOS AT HAND
~I learned a new word:
~The CDC website has been gutted, but citizens have cobbled together the archive of datasets. I’m also following this Threads account to keep abreast of things we used to be able to learn from the CDC, like about COVID and various bird flus.
~Especially at times like these, we need to call a thing a thing. And Jessica Marie Johnson has called the thing that’s happening now by its name: Resegregation.
~Call to action:
~The Dems appear to be doing something besides panic-posting at us on social media, as if we, and not they, are the ones with the power in this situation.
Writing, Wandering, Wondering is a reader-supported publication. To receive full access to all posts, consider becoming a paid subscriber. All proceeds go to Roots Wounds Words, Bronx Defenders, Freedom Reads, and National Bail Out.