Liberian Literary Magazine
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Do you have any advice for
other writers?
Not everyone who can string
words together is an author.
The requirements for being an
author – a writer with a
distinctive voice – are much
higher
than
the
skills
employed in preparing memos
at work or emails to a friend.
The first step is reading
ferociously,
focusing
especially on the best authors
in your genre. The next step
is rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
As every chef and carpenter
knows, it takes a lot of grimy
and unpleasant work behind
the scenes to produce
something
polished
and
pleasing. In addition, solicit
critical feedback from others.
By “others” I don’t mean
parents,
aunties
or
sycophants who will praise
your every effort, but
knowledgeable people who
will point out your errors and
weaknesses. After all, that’s
the only way we can get
better at what we do.
What book[s] are you
reading now? Or recently
read?
I’m between three books
this week. I’m rereading
Return to the Source:
Selected Speeches of Amilcar
Cabral, which a friend just
gave me, and The Myth of
Sisyphus and Other Essays by
Albert Camus. There is also
The Cross of Redemption:
Uncollected
Writings
by
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
James Baldwin, one of my
favorite essayists. I switch
from one to the other as the
spirit moves me.
visual artists, musicians and
other creative folk.
Tell us your latest news,
promotions, book tours,
launch etc.
The book is part of a
campaign that will launch in
early
2016
to
address
negative
portrayals
of
Liberian history and to
counteract their harmful
effects on the Liberian
psyche. Entitled "Reclaim the
Dream," it is designed to do
for Liberian history what
Carter G. Woodson and other
pioneering scholar achieved
for black history in America.
The campaign will highlight
many commonalities and
bring
to
light significant
accomplishments of earlier
Liberians. It aims to foster
greater unity, a sense of
national dignity, and empathy
among Liberians, regardless
of ethnicity.
Any last words?
Yes. I hope that in 2016 we
Liberians will finally realize
that politics cannot unite us
because the electoral process
is inherently divisive. Only
the humanities and the arts
can provide us with a
coherent sense of identity,
dignity and purpose that can
propel us forward.
I hope this is the year we
will stop expecting politicians
to provide a new vision for our
fractured nation. Most are
constitutionally incapable of
producing any such thing.
That task falls squarely on the
shoulders of the writers,
15
Why? Only those who dare
step "outside the box" of
conventional thinking are
capable
of
generating
anything
new.
And
envisioning new ways is, by
definition, what creative
people do. Our currency is not
popularity per se, but rather
truth and beauty.
Writing and making art are
usually lonely pursuits. We
who embrace these callings
are often marginalized, but it
is precisely "at the margins"
that new visions are born. It is
time for Liberian writers and
artists to "be the change we
want to see in the world." The
politicians will follow, and
they will bring their followers
trailing behind them.