mission in accra

hello world, let me do a quickie here while i got a computer on hand
forgive the typos, just trying to get in down, clean it up later

been fascinating on so many levels, had way more students than planned
so i took on an overflow fiction workshop

major experience teaching african american and african mix workshop, in 30 years
of workshopping it was a unique experience

had 4 big contingents, ghanians, kenyans, south africans, african americans
had a multiethnic mix of american writers from one world contest

and because conf free to any writer from continent (incl lodging) we had indi writers from
as far as uganda, benin and zimbabwe

but these were the 4 big contingents numberwise and became cultural blocks

many of the ghanians that showed up, the kenyans and the south africans were experienced professionals
but hope brought a busload of earnest beginners from nigeria, some of whom wrote their 1st stories here

so the literary sophistication range among the african contingent was quite wide
with a pretty good contingent of folk whose intiial efforts were very traditionally based

which was so very illuminating in context of the more cosmopolitan african works

it was interesting the tensions between the traditional and the cosmopolitan african works
it was interesting the tensions between the approaches of the different cultural contingents
it was interesting the tensions between the african and african american aesthetics

it was an illuminating experience on a lot of levels
most pertinent to me personally the mix of african and african american

1st off it felt good having a class full of well trained young african american writers

already thats a heady feeling, they had come from various mfa programs and were highly motivated
to have gotten to ghana for this in the 1st place

then we had these african writers coming on strong, some very cosmopolitan, very polished, some very traditional, very earnest and sincere, it was a stimulating mix and all these cultural assumptions came to light and dialogue

african characters in african american works were challened
african american characters in american works were challenged

literary aesthetics were illiminated, different approaches to endgames, use of texture, moral vs emotional resonances - o what a twisty little maze of cross cultural pollination

but i found it to be a very rewarding experience, a workshop when done well
can be a thing of wonder and beauty and illumination and subtle victories

a major literary project is a spiritual journey the writer undertakes
and at the other end of that journey is a new person a new sensibility

and a product one hopes will be a spiritual cultural literary beacon throbbing with vitality
a gift for generations upon generations of folk, something that will serve humanity forever

and if you do a workshop right, if you get that harmony going where everybody growing
aas writers and artists and human beings and yuou get that groove and put

those Works on the right track for literary transcendence and you turn them out
as stronger writers than they were when they came to you a week a semester ago

thjen its a really wonderful feeling a good workshop
is sacred ground

at one point folk were not being quite frank with a beginner, this young sister from benin, cause she was so cool folk didnt want to discourage her and i said no, we cant not say that this consciousness by syntax (dont ask) technique doesnt work when it so clearly and obvioulsy doesnt, thats not fair to her, a workshop is a sacred pact, trhat i will give you the most useful truth/read that i am capable of, got to give young writers the truth as you see it, i dont allow folk to wiggle around the truth

but that truth got to be delivered with absolute love and respect and a sincere desire to help folk get to the next level of their development - workshop you exposing your deepest fears and fantasies, your literary dreams and aspirations, your literary soul, often in an early unformed and vulnerable state

asking folk well what do you think
workshops can exalt, workshops can cripple

i dont allow egotripping, putdowns, showoffs in my workshops
got to ge strictly workshop love and im good at shaping that

got to be absolute desire to help each other be the best writers we can be, cant just tell somebody
something aint working, got to give suggestions how it can work, got to be the best you got to give

thats what i orchestrate to extract from them, i try to get a feel for where folk are as artist and what each one of them needs in terms of content, vision and production skilz and extract from them the best they got to give each other

you orchestrating it all unto growth and illumination and if you get that harmony going where everybody feeding off everybody and you the conductor making the music happen and making it sweet, there is nothing like it

and once again i have committed to helping a bunch of folk get thru cause you cant do nothning in no week, that aint no guidance, not on the real side

but you do these week two week workshop gigs and you commit to help folk get the Projects thru and they be sending you manuscripts but you under the gun like always

you got your students at the schoolhouse and you got the folk you working with in the tradition, yuou got buddys novels you have agreed to read for them, you always got a stack of manuscripts yea high to be read for folk and you kinda blow folk off when they try to stay in touch, send manuscripts, you dont mean to, you just overwhelmed with reading commitments cause you a novelist, you work with novels, big manuscripts, often bad and alwqays big, and you whimpering day and night but i dont have time to get my own work done (o but to be a poet with little bitty works little bitty manuscripts)

but when you doing a workshop and you in the i will help you get thru moment you commiting to read manuscripts left and right knowingt you not going to follow thru on all of them you just cant but once agaqin i have commited to read a bunch of manuscripts

and i told them i said if you email me and i dont get back to you just email me again cause the commitment is there and i will schedule you into the pile i swear

told them i would help them all get thru to the promiseland, which entails if you kinda conscientious about it, reading multiple drafts over the next 4 or 5 uyears, struggling to get them to understand organic paths of growth as writers and artists, helping them mature as craftsfolk, and most important, get them to the point where their novels really say somethjing important enough to break them thru the pack to the literary promiseland

thats such a struggle, you just dont know
that eternal search for significance

its a strange and delicate little commitment where you fiddling with their literary souls and you have to be very careful you dont send them off in a direction that looks right but is actually wrong for them and their best growth as writers, artists and perhaps literary visionaries, you have to step very lightly when you dealing with yuoung lityerary souls

i probably need to tell this student she is more interested in writing political thrillers than she is literary cause i keep giving her advice that leads her toward literary while she keep writing political thriller but thats a major life decision to tell a young writer susceptible to your authority and opinion and im reluctant to get that deep into her destiny

reason she susceptible to my authority, my suggestions, in the 1st place, is because she trust me to give her my best, thats a heavy responsibility

this dynamic is rough on both you and your students and if there is no true commitment there on both ends why put yourself thru it

but whent he commitment is there and the years are fruitful and you break one thru to the promiseland, there is nothing like it

at this stage in the game that means asmuch to me as getting my own Work done

then you got to help them get published, teach them promotional skilz, and hopefully point them onto the path of literary professionalism and even more serendipitous, cultural and literary forces

the ones that hung tough that is, most of them dont, over the years they just drop off by the wayside
i dont blame them, the literary life aint for the faint hearted, and even the ones you do get thru, they dont stay

by then they have grown away from you and they no longer your students and they dont bring their works to you no more and you kinda miss that cause they dont feel like they need you no more and you fear they disrespecting you like the rest of the literary world but you know thats just literary anxiety and insecurity talking and you always got to ignore that, always, and at least its fewer manuscripts to read and thats a good thing thats a very good thing and you are so pleased with them and the tracks they making in the literary world, they no longer students, they peers, forces you have helped unleash on destiny, its all good

well look at the time, where did all this come from
tomorrow elmina castle and cape coast, more magic

this has been an incredible experience,and next year will be better
i suspect jeff is feeling pretty good about it all

suffice it to say that it was a good workshop, it was a good crew and the magic was there and caught up in the magic the moment i told them i would get them all thru to the promiseland and thats what im gon do

im tired already, just thinking
about it im tired

all my love

rdoc

Comments

[rawdawgbuffalo]

think i will be invited to a workshop one day folk?