The art of black writers collectives

Black Issues Book Review, July-August, 2002 by Lenard D. Moore

Founded in 1993, the Carolina African American Writers Collective--which numbers 40--is a writing workshop and reading group that includes poets, novelists, literary and cultural critics, essayists, journalists, playwrights, editors and others who meet to critique each other's literary works, discuss books by black authors, and comment on today's literary scene. Members teach writing workshops at schools, colleges and universities, prisons, and conferences.

"The workshops are important because they provide a venue for trying out new works and getting feedback from a sharp bunch of writers who can tell me what's working in a new piece," says L. Teresa Church, membership chairperson and archivist for the Carolina African American Writers' Collective and author of Hand-Me-Down Calicos.

Gina M. Streaty, recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston Award, says every meeting for us is like a family reunion. "The CAAWC is a lifeline for me, as well as for all of its members," she adds. "We're a real family and we not only give each other the kind of support emerging and seasoned writers need, but also the love, respect, honesty and wisdom we have honed from our collective experiences. It's a beautiful thing."

CAAWC has a newsletter that is distributed monthly at the Carolina African American Writers' Collective's meetings. "The newsletter offers information. Usually, it lets us know of the accomplishments of fellow members and of any publishing opportunities in the near future," says CAAWC member Wendell W. Ottley III, author of 20th Century Bondage. "It plugs us into the larger literary community and gives us a portal through which to enter that community." The CAAWC newsletter is distributed to writers in Canada, England, France, various African countries and throughout the U. S.

Preeiminent literary collective

In many ways, the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club is the preeminent black writers collective. Like the renowned Dark Room collective, the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club often features readings and workshops by well-known black writers, such as Quincy Troupe, Terry McMillan and Ahmos Zu-Bolton, among others.

Eugene B. Redmond, poet laureate of East St. Louis, Illinois is cofounder of the collective, and Darlene Roy is the president of the writers club, and one of its most promising writers. Among some of the clubs other members are Jabari Asim, a senior editor of the books section for the Washington Post, and David Nelson one of the founders of The Last Poets.

Last year the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club celebrated its fifteenth anniversary with literary activities in and around the St. Louis-East St. Louis areas. The collective co-sponsors the Drum Voices Revue, along with the English Department at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where Eugene B. Redmond teaches creative writing and multicultural literature.

"We bring literacy and literature to everybody while at the same time we are preparing the literati," says Eugene B. Redmond. Its members have been featured at the National Black Arts Festival and in the anthology Break Word With The World. The EBR Writers Club meets on the first and third Tuesdays, September through May, at the East St. Louis Community College Center.