What I've Been Up To Lately
Millennial Writer Life is here to guide and uplift new writers. Our newsletter provides valuable insights, tips, and resources, creating a welcoming space to navigate the path to success. In other words, a newsletter to help you become the writer that you are or that you want to be.
Went To North Carolina To Talk About Being Black In Publishing
In late February, I went to North Carolina Central University to be a part of a panel on the “Pipeline to Black Publishing” where I got to talk with other black folks about the ups and downs of being a part of the publishing industry as a black person. As a writer in a new phase of my career, it’s been really liberating to articulate my ideals about being paid my worth, being resistant to the whiteness of the publishing industry, and especially, how to be an artist with anti-capitalist ideologies.
I did a vlog about my time in North Carolina, so feel free to check it out.
Did a Book Event at Toronto Public Library
A few days after North Carolina, I headed to Toronto, ON to do a book event with Rinaldo Walcott, a prominent black writer, and educator. Anyone that knows me knows that I love traveling for work and having time to process the many big changes that are happening in my life right now. The Toronto event was in a beautiful downtown library, and I got to sit down with Rinaldo Walcott to talk about how death shows up as an almost antagonistic force in my book, and fielded a lot of audience questions about the emotions I grappled with in When They Tell You To Be Good.
A shining moment from this event was being able to sit with Walcott and others after, and me humbled by their love for my book, which made me cry after, but in a good way!
I know my conversation from this event will be uploaded to Youtube sometime soon, so I’l let MWL readers know when that is.
Finished Leading A High School Writing Workshop
For the last two months, I’ve been leading a workshop with Brooklyn high schoolers for a program with Lamda Literary called LGBTQ Writers in Schools, which brings in LGBTQIA writers/authors to do school visits or lead workshops. Not only was it amazing to meet so many LGBTQIA high schoolers, but it was even greater to spend so much time talking to them about their lives, their writing, and their identities.
My time with the teenagers left me reminiscing a lot on my teenage self, how much writing meant to him, and the power of having role models that speak about queer life in an accessible way.
Attended AWP in Seattle + Did An Offsite Reading
I also recently went to #AWP23, which was a big writing conference in Seattle, WA. Of the four years that I’ve gone, I’ve got to say this AWP Conference was the chillest and the one where I did the most events. I signed some copies of my book at the Hurston/Wright table and did an offsite reading with writers, Madeline ffitch of STAY AND FIGHT and Soraya Palmer of the forthcoming book, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts.
Upcoming Happenings
This Saturday, March 25, I will be Soraya Palmer’s conversation partner at her debut book launch for The Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts at El Santo in Brooklyn. The event starts at 7 PM and I’ll be talking to Palmer about how she crafted such a beautiful and engaging book exploring family, love, despair, and how stories help us cope with our lives, especially as Caribbean people and writers.
In a few days, I’ll be heading to Ball State University to be a part of their In Print: Festival of First Books, which is a yearly celebration of debut authors, on March 28 and 29. I’ll be doing class visits, a reading, and celebratory dinner. Come say HI if you are in Munich, Indiana.
After that, I’ll be heading to Columbus, OH to work on my very first short film. I won’t share much about it yet, other than it’s a film exploring queer friendship and a meandering night between two longtime friends who are worried about an oncoming event that may split their friendship apart. Screenwriting and film has been a deep love of mine and I’m so excited for how new friends in NYC are inspiring me to create.
What have you been working on lately or what has been inspiring you?
While I was at AWP, I got to see Kiese Laymon talk and it got me back on the kick of watching more of his interviews online. Here’s a recent one that I found.