Back in March 2001, Randall Robinson spoke at my bookstore about his book The Debt which was about reparations for slavery. Back then Mr. Robinson was one of the first to begin the conversation about reparations with some seriousness.  It was an amazing event and I’m sure I broke some fire codes with the amount […]

I think the WHOLE story of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award is IMPORTANT to tell and it is one that I ALWAYS teach my students. It’s a tale of the struggle of women to be included, to be seen, to be heard, to be. Even the part about the suicide–it’s ALL important. To change the […]

Toni Morrison easily is the writer who most influenced me as a person, and then as a writer. She showed me that you can write about topics close to your soul with eloquent prose, then brush off the critiques of those too small-minded to understand. I saved my pennies and bought my copy of Beloved […]

I returned from the Sycamore Hill Writer’s Workshop a few days ago and I’m still processing it all. It was beautiful there and my fellow writer’s were a delight. This workshop may in fact be just what I needed. One thing I was reminded of over the course of the workshop is that, though I’ve […]

Just after I closed my bookstore this conference happened at NYU. I had no idea it was coming and had no plans to be there until I discovered a listing for the event somewhere. When I realized what it was, I quickly bought my membership and attempted to attend every panel and reading that I […]