I asked the poet to talk with me a little bit about the genesis and refinement of her new book, , which is excerpted today at Poetry Blog. (And please see the end of the Q&A for a brief note from her publisher about his grassroots micropress, Grand Concourse!)
Fox Frazier-Foley: I really loved this book, and I’m so excited to talk with you about your process in creating it. Can you tell me a little bit about how you started the project? How did you come up with the character, the name, the gender or lack thereof?
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie: Only the first letter was my idea. I wrote it because I was angry about things I was seeing on the poetry scene among poets of color. Poetry seemed, to me, to have become about pedigree and careerism almost overnight. As a poet, I “wasn’t raised like that.”
I imagined what a poet who was just stepping into the arena might feel like. I thought about what obstacles they’d encounter simply by writing poems that were blatantly political/dealing with social justice, and so I wrote that first letter. It was published on the (now defunct) Her Kind section of the VIDA website.
I wrote two more letters to include in a talk on craft at Texas A&M International University. A student at my talk asked if I’d write more letters and create a book from them. I thought it was a great idea. I did have a lot more to share. So I did it.
Continuum is named so because s/he is part of a continuum dedicated to the tradition of weaving social justice, activism, and art. People do this in a variety of ways so I am not going to define what that looks like, but you feel it when it’s happening in someone’s work. Cultural workers can be of any gender so I didn’t want to assign Continuum a gender. I wanted any reader who identifies with Continuum to feel welcome into the text.
F3: How did you come to the structural concept for the book of writing letters? Do you consider them prose poems, or just prose?
MET: I think these letters are prose. There might be a line or two that contains poetry.
The essays are more poetic, I think.
F3: What was your favorite part of writing this book? What was the hardest part?
MET: My favorite part of writing the book was writing the book. That’s always the best part. Everything after that is a necessary chore. But getting this work publishable–and published– has been a community affair that has opened my heart and mind in new ways. That has been amazing. I am so grateful for the people who stepped in to read, edit, proofread, copyedit. The manuscript has transformed under the care of some beautiful, brilliant people.
This book is also an act of power. It was made outside of the white literary establishment and outside of the black literary establishment. No one gave us permission to do it. We simply dedicated ourselves to it and did it. That’s what Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, Louis Reyes Rivera, Haki Madhubuti, Broadside Press, Kitchen Table Press, Shameless Hussy Press, Blind Beggar Press and many others encouraged us to do by example: have some ovaries! Don’t always go running to the establishment to get things done. Get your community together and do the work. And don’t become a new establishment in the process, just be a community engaged in the work.
And this book really has come forth because of a community. A student asked for it to be written. Timothy Prolific Jones read an early version of the manuscript from cover to cover, and gave me feedback. Bonafide Rojas agreed to publish it. Frank X Walker heard me read from it at The Watering Hole–an amazing writing retreat!–and said to me, out of earshot from anybody, “If you need money to publish this work, I’ve got you. We need this book.” I was in tears after that reading, partly because the support for this book was so strong. Shauna Morgan Kirlew, a wonderful poet, scholar, professor, and mother also took me to the side and said “If you need someone to edit this book, I’ll do it.” I cried again! Yes, I did. And I am not a person who gets emotional like that in public. Believe me.
All the way at the end, when I was totally burned out, my dear friend, the scholar Patricia Milanes, stepped in and did some more necessary editing and proofreading. She imbued this project with a grace it didn’t have before. Dominique Sindayiganza, my husband and one of the hardest working people I know, copyedited this book. I’ve worked in magazine publishing but once I saw him go to work, I truly understood what a gift a copy editor is. And what do these people get out of working with me and Bonafide? Nothing but thanks! That is all we have to offer this community of people who lovingly gathered around this project, and volunteered their eyes, time, skills, energy, and money.
F3: How did you find Grand Concourse Press as your publisher for this book? What was your experience like, working with them?
MET: In terms of finding a publisher, this was not a book I was willing to “shop.” I wanted a publisher who embodied the ideas of Continuum. My first choices were Moore Black Press and Grand Concourse Press and so I approached them about the project.
There were plenty of times I wanted to say to hell with this because I was tired, broke, sick, touring, writing other things, and feeling overwhelmed. At some point someone I cared for deeply told me the project was crazy. This is the truth. I had to work through all of that stuff and because of the community supporting me, I was able to and the book got done!
People who have read the book say they’ve been nourished and informed by it and I’m beyond thrilled about that. This book is my way of trying to share everything I’ve learned with anyone who wants or needs to know it. I wish I could mentor everyone who asks, but realistically, I can’t do that and take care of my family, write, take care of myself, teach, travel, and have a life.
F3: Speaking of life, what’s next on the horizon for you? Do you have any projects you’re working on right now?
MET: On the horizon: a baby!!!!!
F3: Congratulations!! And thank you so much for sharing your amazing project with us!
MET: Thank you, Fox!!!!!!!!!!!!
A word from , founder and EIC of Grand Concourse Press:
Grand Concourse Press is an independent press based out of The Bronx. Our main focus is to publish works (of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art books) by poets. Our vision is to publish quality books that will leave a mark on this generation & future generations. I want to document the movements that are being created right now, as well as celebrate previous ones.
Grand Concourse Press is a direct reaction to the lack of presses that focus on writers of color. There is a strong disconnect between the major publishing houses & small independent presses, so I founded Grand Concourse Press to be another avenue writers can use to share their word & vision.
Grand Concourse Press is named after a historic boulevard in the Bronx, The Grand Concourse, which stretches 5 miles and is one of the main streets of my life.
