WRITING HOME

“I belong here.” – Staceyann Chin

Staceyann tells it all like it is while Kaiama and Tami try to keep up.

Staceyann Chin is a poet, actor, and performing artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the author of the poetry collection Crossfire: A Litany For Survival and the critically acclaimed memoir The Other Side of Paradise, the co-writer and original performer in the Tony Award–winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and the author of the one-woman shows Hands Afire, Unspeakable Things, Border/Clash, and MotherStruck. Staceyann has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes, and her poetry has been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She proudly identifies as Caribbean, Black, Asian, lesbian, a woman, and a resident of New York City, as well as a Jamaican national. Staceyann is on Twitter at @staceyannchin.

The post episode 03 | be.longing appeared first on WRITING HOME |.

“The ceremony can be found for it.” – Alexis Gumbs

Alexis educates Tami and Kaiama on the difference between a trilogy and a triptych, explains how daily practice really can make perfect (or close to it), and answers the burning question: is she a black feminist? Spoiler alert: YES.

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is the author of Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity, M Archive: After the End of the World, and Dub: Finding Ceremony.  She is also the co-editor of Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines. The Anguilla Literary Festival called Alexis “The Pride of Anguilla.” Alexis is now the provost of the Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind in Durham, NC and co-founder of the Black Feminist Bookmobile, Black Feminist Film School, and the Mobile Homecoming Trust Living Library and Archive of Queer Black Brilliance. Alexis is also Creative Writing Editor of Feminist Studies and celebrant-in-residence at NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham, NC. Alexis is on Twitter at @alexispauline.

The post episode 02 | ceremony appeared first on WRITING HOME |.

“I think invisibility is a writer’s superpower.” – Naomi Jackson

Kaiama and Tami speak with Naomi about the privilege of being from multiple Caribbean places and about the freedom of not entirely belonging to any one of them. Also, Naomi offers a few helpful words on how to forgive our mothers and ourselves.

Naomi Jackson is the author of The Star Side of Bird Hill, published by Penguin Press in June 2015. She studied fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the recipient of residencies from the Kelly Writers House, Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, and the Camargo and Point Foundations. She has taught at the University of Iowa, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oberlin College. Naomi lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she was born and raised by West Indian parents. You can find her on Instagram at @thenaomijackson

The post episode 01 | (in)visibility appeared first on WRITING HOME |.

“There are treasures to be found here.”

Meet co-hosts Kaiama L. Glover and Tami Navarro.

Since 2015, Tami and Kaiama have been working together to curate conversations between cultural producers whose work reflects their experience of Caribbean diaspora. Held at Barnard College, these events have served as a space of community on campus and far beyond.Featuring Jamaica Kincaid & Tiphanie Yanique, Edwidge Danticat & Victoria Brown, Gloria Joseph & Naomi Jackson, Dionne Brand & Claudia Rankine, Erna Brodber & Nicole Dennis-Benn, Maryse Condé & Fabienne Kanor, Roxane Gay & Katia Ulysse, and Staceyann Chin & Alexis Gumbs – these pairings have brought together distinct voices in powerful dialogue. In this first episode, the co-hosts discuss the move from live events to the podcast and reflect on what this platform can offer in the way of building and sustaining community despite the challenges of the current moment.

The post prologue | welcome home appeared first on WRITING HOME |.