[2014-06-04] Fucking A

This Wednesday, we met to discuss a controversial play Fucking A (2000) by Suzan-Lori Parks who decided to claim Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel: “I’m going to write a play, a riff on The Scarlet Letter, and I’m going to call it Fucking A! Ha, ha, ha!” * At that time, Parks was joking, as she hadn’t read the novel. Nevertheless, this idea was preying on her mind for a very long time and, finally, the play saw the light of day.

Suzan-Lori Parks (1963 - )

Suzan-Lori Parks, an African-American playwright and screenwriter, was born on 10^th May 1963 in Fort Knox, Kentucky into a military family. As a child, she developed a taste for folklore, mythology as well as wrote numerous short stories and songs.

[07-05-2014] HOME

This Wednesday we met to discuss Home (2012) – Toni Morrison’s latest novel or, rather, a longer novella since some of us complained that it was too short. On barely 145 pages, the author includes concisely such themes as race, masculinity, color(blindness), love, politics, property, violence, dysfunctional family and history/memory. Although we were all enchanted by the narrative and language, some critics find fault with our beloved (!) writer.

Toni Morrison (1931 - )

Toni Morrison (real name: Chloe Anthony Wofford) was born in Lorain, Ohio and raised in a working-class family. Folktales, storytelling and songs of the black community were part and parcel of Morrison’s childhood. Her early fascination with literature and history was becoming stronger and stronger.

[2013-03-22] LIFE ON MARS

This month, BLASt's meeting was devoted to Tracy K. Smith's book of poems entitled Life on Mars. Published in 2011, the collection was awarded The Pulitzer Prize in the following year. Our discussion focused on the treatment of science, science-fiction and the notion of the universe both in poetry and in prose, as well as the differences between the two modes. We also investigated Smith's formal approach towards poetry writing and her re-working of the elegy genre, the poet's use of pop-references (incl. David Bowie and Charlton Heston) and the affinity of her works with confessional poetry.

Tracy K. Smith (1972 - )

Born on April 16, 1972, Tracy K. Smith was raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts. She studied at Harvard and later went on to receive her MFA from Columbia University.

Smith is the author of three books of poetry: The Body's Question (2003), which won the Cave Canem prize for the best first book by an African-American poet; Duende (2007), winner of the James Laughlin Award and the Essence Literary Award; and Life on Mars (2011), which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

ALICE WALKER (1944 - )

An American novelist, essayist, activist and a poet. Born on Feb9th 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia as  the youngest of eight children. She started writing when she was eight years old. In 1952, Walker was accidentally wounded in the right eye by a shot from a BB gun fired by one of her brothers. Because the family had no car, the Walkers could not take their daughter to a hospital for immediate treatment. By the time they reached a doctor a week later, she had become permanently blind in that eye. Dispite that, however; she  went on to become valedictorian of her local school, and attend Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College on scholarships, graduating in 1965.