November 2022: “Bigger than Bravery” edited by Valerie Boyd, Launch Date – November 15

In September my dear friend Valerie Boyd was inducted into the Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame at the University of Georgia where she founded the Graduate Low Residency Program for Narrative Non-Fiction. I had the honor of moderating a panel that evening on Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a time of Pandemic, an anthology of essays and poems by 31 amazing writers. It was Val’s last project as editor.

Bigger Than Bravery and the beautiful Valerie Boyd

From the Bigger Than Bravery Book Description:

Born of a desire to bring together the voices of those most harshly affected by the intersecting pandemics of Covid-19 and systemic racism, Bigger Than Bravery explores comfort and compromise, challenge and resilience, throughout the Great Pause that became the Great Call.
 

With contributions by Pearl Cleage, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Tayari Jones, Kiese Laymon, Imani Perry, Deesha Philyaw, Khadijah Queen, Jason Reynolds, Alice Walker, and more.
 

“Eloquent and riveting, Boyd’s collection delivers not only, as she promises in her introduction, a long exhalation, a silent prayer, a solace, and a comfort but also, in the words of Imani Perry, a celebration of Blackness as ‘an immense and defiant joy.’ This one’s not to be missed.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review, Big Indie Books of Fall 2022
 

“A map of ancestral knowledge, revelatory insight, and feelings laid bare . . . These pages share poems of hope, narratives of loss, anger, fear, loneliness, togetherness, death, and most potently, life, to paint a portrait . . . resonant to all.”
Library JournalEditors’ Pick

“Valerie Boyd’s Bigger Than Bravery isn’t just an anthology; it is a survival guide.”
—Courtney B. Vance, Tony- and Emmy-winning actor

SAVE 15% off the cover price plus receive FREE Shipping
Use Promo Code: HallofFame

Panelists: Shay Youngblood, Tayari Jones, Rosalind Bentley, Karen Good Marable and Latria Graham. 
Photo by Camie William

My essay Feasting on Bread and Bones about my creative channeling in the kitchen and gentrification in my Atlanta neighborhood is included, requested, and shaped by Val’s editorial hand.

A happy Sunday morning memory with my tribe:Veta, Val, Shay, Kelley, and Miriam

MAMA’S HOME LAUNCH ON CHARIS BOOKS

In case you missed this virtual launch event with Kelley Alexander and myself, enjoy this replay provided by Charis Books.


WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING, LISTENING TO, AND READING

  • Watching: The New Wakanda film (soon), Sydney Poitier doc on Apple TV
  • Listening to music:  Beyonce, Bjork, Healing Music for Plants, Jon Batiste, Lizzo, and Kendrick Lamar
  • Listening to books: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers (for the 2nd time), Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa, Nancy Drew Mysteries
  • Reading: As Cooked on Tik Tok, Ossuaries by Dionne Brand, Travel and Food magazines, The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk

October 2022: “Mama’s Home” Book Launch!

PHOTO EXHIBITION BY VISIONARY PHOTOGRAPHER CAROLYN MILLER

Shay Youngblood, 2022

Like my photo?

It was taken by Photographer Carolyn Miller who included my image in her exhibition: Our Journeys, Our Stories: In Our Own Words September 12 – October 30, 2022, at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta.

The stunning photographs feature the images and stories of Black Women creators, innovators, community servants, healers, visionaries, advocates, and educators.

I’m excited to invite you to the Virtual Book Launch of my first children’s book published by Make Me A World Books (Chris Myers publisher) where I’ll be discussing the book with my friend, Kelley Alexander. Click here to join us.


Pre-Order Mama’s Home from CHARIS BOOKS & MORE 
Available October 18, 2022

From the book description:
A gorgeously illustrated picture book that is a powerful love letter to chosen families and the village that raises us. A young girl basks in the love of her community–which includes not only her mother but the many different women who make up her world.

 “A joyful, heartfelt celebration of family—born and chosen—and community, of Black womanhood and expressions of love.”—Kirkus Reviews (Read the complete starred review.)

AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM AMAZON
“Congratulations!  MAMA’S HOME has been selected for
Amazon’s Best of the Month Club in the Ages 3 – 5 category!”


PREORDER A FAMILY PRAYER  AVAILABLE APRIL 2023

From the book description:
In A Family Prayer, acclaimed novelist Shay Youngblood brings to life the prayer of a little brown girl who finds joy in asking God to keep her family safe.

Young readers will celebrate every aunty, cousin, and grandmother in their life.

But more than just her biological relatives, each family member is a maternal or paternal archetype, someone in her community who represents the title of mother, father, aunty, and the like.

Click here to Pre-Order your copy today from CHARIS BOOKS & MORE


HAMBIDGE CENTER RESIDENCY

The North Georgia mountains were a balm to my soul.

I spent 5 days working on a new draft of my stage play Boss Ladies and Tender-hearted Girls: A Manual for Rest and Resistance, made drawings and sketches for a mural, and sketched out ideas for how to use new technology, particularly Virtual Reality in my new work and in my life for armchair traveling.


WHAT I’VE BEEN ANTICIPATING, READING, RE-READING, AND WATCHING

  • Most Anticipated Film: Woman King
  • Book Listening: Between Two Kingdoms, Sulieka Joad
  • Netflix: Great British Bake Off and Never Have I Ever…
  • Watching: Criterion Channel Collection Films – thanks to a one-year gift subscription

July 2022: Square Blues at the Horizon Theater

Square Blues follows the story of Square, his mother Odessa, and Odessa’s granddaughter, Karma. 

Square, (played by Jay Jones), is collecting names on petitions demanding financial reparations and a public apology for slavery.

His mother Odessa (played by Olivia Dawson), is married to a Jewish store owner since the 1940s.

Odessa’s granddaughter Karma (played by Chantal Maurice) creates art on public walls using spray paint, nude models, and found objects in her art to bring attention to the issues she feels passion for. 

Karma is in love with partner-in-crime Lola (Patty De La Garza), a Latinx poet who is coaxing her to move away to California.

Only together can they find the courage to stand up for their beliefs as they redefine what makes a family and what holds it together.  
 
SHOW DATES & TIMES
July 22 – August 21, 2022
Press Opening July 29


Wednesday – Friday at 8 PM
Saturday at 3PM & 8PM
Sunday at 5 PM

Tickets are $30 on weekdays, and $35 on weekends in advance (prices are subject to change and may rise as performances fill up)

Meet the accomplished cast starring in the world premiere of Square Blues about three generations of a southern Black family who share a passion for activism, art, and following your heart.

THE CAST
Marliss Ameia* – Miss Tuesday
Olivia Dawson* – Odessa Blue
Patrica (Patty) de la Garza – Lola
Chantal Maurice – Karma Blue
Jay Jones – Square Blue

Enjoy this Interview with me and Horizon Theater’s Digital Content & Education Manager, Jack Padgett.  We discuss the play – the story, characters, the genesis of my idea, and more!


A BEHIND-THE-SCENES PEEK DURING REHEARSALS FOR SQUARE BLUES

May 2022: Walking in Beauty

I woke up smiling. It was a beautiful sunny spring day and I wanted to walk in beauty. Atlanta High Museum or Atlanta Botanical Gardens?

 After a friend brought me a delicious slice of Visiting Cake, she dropped me off at the Gardens.

What a glorious Eden! Walking among the trees, flowers, and plants (venus fly traps) the aroma of honeysuckle and other sweet florals stopped me in my tracks and so did the glass creations of Chihuly.

On grand display are large-scale metal sculptures of Santa Fe-based artists Kevin and Jennifer Box Origami in the Garden, a traveling exhibition.

It was a sweet surprise to meet Kevin and Jennifer while I was admiring one of Jennifer’s pieces.

The show opens to the public on May 7th.

I hope you’ll make the time to walk in beauty soon.


HOMECOMING

Finally got the chance to see the stunning mural created by Najee Dorsey for the Mildred Terry Public Library, my childhood sanctuary in Columbus, Georgia.

I took photos with my family in front of the mural depicting the history of the library and the community I grew up in.

Najee has been working on an epic project in the Atlanta area, a gallery space, Black Art in America opening to the public soon.

Yes, that’s me in the mural, the girl in yellow typing a draft of the Big Mama Stories at Yaddo Artists Retreat.


UPCOMING EVENTS

July  8 – 14th Horizon Theatre presents SQUARE BLUES directed by Thomas Jones lll

August 15  STAY TUNED for the announcement of a public reading of my play  BOSS LADIES & TENDER-HEARTED GIRLS: A Manual for Renewal and Resistance at the HORIZON THEATRE 

Pre-Order Mama’s Home at CHARIS BOOKS & MORE

Black Women Speak! Marguerite Hannah and Horizon Theatre Present a new Project to amplify the voices of Southern Black women, find it in The Dramatists ATLANTA May/June 2022 Issue – Read: BLACK WOMEN SPEAK PROJECT by Candrice Jones & Shay Youngblood 


WHAT I’VE BEEN READING, RE-READING, AND WATCHING

  • Bridgerton Seasons One and Two 
  • The Gilded Age
  • Nashville, binge-watched all six seasons and wept at the end of Season Five.
  • Better Life
  • Black-ish, binge from Season One
  • This Is Us – when I need to cry. Each episode is good for at least three boo hoo’s
  • Stacks of Illustrated Children’s Books
  • Vintage Cookbooks
  • Cooking Shows
  • Emails from a friend who keeps bees!
  • Cards, letters, and postcards from around the world, I enjoy sending and receiving snail mail

YOUNGBLOOD ARTS

I’m offering 30-minute zoom or phone conversations with creatives. Discuss your writing and creative projects, resources, grants, and how to sustain your practice.

Learn more and register with the links above.

April 2022: Hawai’i Aloha

Some of you know that I lived on the island of Oahu when I was 17-18 years old. I was still young enough to wear a blue bikini and spend many days on the North Shore beaches watching surfers break wave after massive wave.

I enjoyed meeting locals and making new friends. Had fish tacos at Diamond head with a filmmaker, a Korean feast with an artist, among the wild chickens of Honolulu, experienced local contemporary art, and those legendary sunsets over Waikiki.

I founded the Perpetual Birthday Club on my 18th birthday on Waikiki beach. No one remembered my birthday. I told a stranger why I was looking so sad. An older woman probably in her 30’s, squealed. Her smile lit up like a sunrise. “Happy Birthday!”, she sang. You would have thought it was the Queen’s birthday. She bought me a donut. 

I was once given a very expensive necklace that I tried on in a store but knew I couldn’t afford. The owner said it was HER birthday and it looked good on me.

Since that time I realized that I didn’t need anyone else to celebrate me or validate me. I celebrate Shay Day at least once a month. Sometimes I buy myself a small gift and have it gift wrapped, or treat myself to a massage or a solo fancy lunch with a glass of wine, or just eat cake for a meal. Who knows better how to celebrate you than YOU.

Now I celebrate an entire season when my birthday month rolls around in the fall. I still like receiving gifts, cards, and bouquets of flowers any time of the year but Shay Day is when I celebrate myself and sometimes I’ll give someone a special gift because it’s my birthday.

The air still caresses like a lover’s hand, the water is soft, and the beauty of nature is a spiritual revelation.

I was in Honolulu to attend the Association for Asian Studies Conference where I participated on a panel with my Japan U.S. Friendship Commission colleagues. 

The conversations were engaging, and the presentations lively. I learned about new approaches to engaging students in Japanese Studies, data on jobs and educational opportunities, and discussed my ongoing project Add Architecture, Stir Memory supported by the JUSFC in 2011. 

I met the talented filmmaker Baldwin Chiu who collaborated with his wife Melissa Lam on the LINK film Far East Deep South. The film is beautiful and moving.


ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS AND WRITING PROGRAMS
 

The AWP 2022 panel in Philly went on without me in person, but my colleagues Rochelle Spencer, Opal Moore, Kyla Marshell, and Chantal James made dynamic offerings to the audience on how we and other women of color are experimenting with form in our interdisciplinary projects. 

A short sound clip from my work made it into the program. The conversation will be continued.


UPCOMING EVENT
 

In Conversation with Rachel Harper, author of THE OTHER MOTHER    

May 3 at 5:30 pm

Click here to join this Charis Books and More Virtual Event 

I’m beyond excited to be in conversation with the gifted novelist and my long-time friend Rachel Harper. I can’t wait to talk with her about this special novel that many of you will enjoy from the first page to the very last.

Pre-order your copy now and pre-register for the conversation here.


I’M COMING OUT 

As covid restrictions ease up. I’m still masked up but I’m getting out and about. 

With BOSS Janee Bolden at Girl Diver Restaurant in SE Atlanta and to the Atlanta Symphony for some Bruch and Beethoven with my cousin Schmohn.

To the movies – Everything Everywhere All At Once with Izzy.


WHAT I’VE BEEN READING & RE-READING
 

  • The Other Mother, Rachel Harper
  • Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, edited by Valerie Boyd
  • Women Talk Money, edited by Rebecca Walker
  • Black Futures, edited by Jenna Wortham and Kimberly Drew
  • Black Food, Bryant Terry

March 2022: Traveling Without a Passport

It delights me to be living in Atlanta where the flowers put on a dazzling performance each spring. Exciting to make new friends I’ll soon get to see in person, have old friends throw pajama parties and others fly in for the weekend to show me new perspectives of the city.

Time-Traveling

I’ll be in two places at the same time this spring, in Honolulu at the Association for Asian Studies(AAS) conference to discuss approaches to Japan Studies and at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) to present on a panel with Opal Moore, Kyla Marshell, Chantal James, and Rochelle Spencer about experimenting with form in our interdisciplinary projects. 

I didn’t skip 2021 although there were times I wanted to fast forward past some of the parts that included lockdown and social distancing from my friends and family. These were some of the highlights:

  • I joined the faculty as a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Creative Writing Program, City College, Harlem. I was fortunate to work with a stellar group of writers
  • Presented the James Baldwin Lecture “Unprecedented Heartbreak” for Adelphi University
  • Facilitated two online writing workshops: Creating a Pleasure Toolbox and Grief and Healing
  • My short story “In a House of Wooden Monkeys”, was published in Glory Edim’s Anthology “On Girl Hood”

What I’ve Been Reading & Re-Reading

  • Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, Valerie Boyd
  • Dust Tracks on a Road: A Memoir, Zora Neale Hurston
  • Vice President Kamala Harris: Her Path to the White House, Malaika Adero
  • Speak Okinawa: A Memoir, Elizabeth Miki Brina
  • Finance for the People, Paco De Leon
  • Cookbooks

News

Youngblood Arts is offering 30-minute and 50-minute Zoom or phone conversations with creatives. Discuss your writing and creative projects, resources, grants, and how to sustain your practice.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: 2020 Tried to Kill Me I’m Still Here

In the most challenging two years of my life (2018-2020), I moved 5 times (twice during the pandemic) experienced heartbreak, loss, health issues, etc. During the pandemic I have had the opportunity to spend quality time with myself asking:

Who am I in this moment now?

 How do I choose to live?

How do I choose to love?

How will I move forward to create a sustainable life for myself and contribute my skills to my community?  

We live in a new world. Our lives have changed dramatically from the pandemic and righteous protests against police brutality, a devastating economic downturn and political chaos. Zoom is a verb and we are both burnt out and able to extend our reach world because of it.

Grateful to 2020 for these highlights

  • My new home in Atlanta is SANCTUARY, KITCHEN LAB and CREATIVE STUDIO
  • Made deeper connections with my TRIBE of women friends, my blood and chosen family and made new friends
  • Emory University’s Rose Library acquired a portion of my personal and professional ARCHIVES
  • Published a graphic novel about a black female superhero/sex educator
  • Sold two illustrated children’s books to Chris Myers at Make Me A World and, Porsha Burke at Convergent (RANDOM HOUSE imprints)
  • My novel Black Girl in Paris was optioned for film/tv by Natalie Baszile the author of the novel Queen Sugar
  • In a creative learning/ experimenting spree, I made a series of drawings about the meaning of HOME during the pandemic, took ukulele and piano lessons, a manifesto writing workshop, weight training and yoga classes and streamed hours of classic opera from the MET and podcasts on subjects ranging from the esoteric to the erotic. I also cooked the most amazing meals and invented recipes.
  • Celebrated Georgia turning BLUE, thank you Stacey Abrams & Fair Fight Action, and the election of Biden and Harris
  • Velina Hasu posted a lovely interview with me on her blog highlighting Women Theater Artists https://matchabook.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/this-is-shay-youngblood-her-eyes-have-seen-and-the-seeing-continues-to-soar/

2021 is all about FOCUS and RADICAL SELF-LOVE

 New Events and Adventures in 2021

  • Launch of Youngblood Arts Second Sunday Genre Bending Literary Fitness writing workshops in MARCH!
  • Excited to teach writing workshops for VONA Feb 27-28 and July 2021
  • Artist Residency with Indigo Arts Alliance (Portland, Maine) TBA

SELECTED READING LIST

Black Futures, edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham

Accra Noir, edited by Nana-Ama Danquah

The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, Karen Hill Anton

What’s Your Story, Rebecca Walker and Lily Diamond

African Look Book, Catherine McKinley

Everything Inside, Edwidge Danticat

Rise, Marcus Samuelson

Resist, Veronica Chambers

ARTISTS on my RADAR

Robert Pruitt, Deborah Roberts, Carolyn Miller

*Please support Black and Independent Bookstores and BIPOC artists

DENTON BLACK FILM FESTIVAL: Community Action

image1Shay Youngblood with David Herman in the “green room”

The Denton Black Film Festival was a good time, reflective, informative, celebratory and sobering. The sold out screening of I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO was an action that inspired me to return to a writing project with urgency. Christopher Blay’s exhibition KWTXR was moving and captured this moment now. The Women in Entertainment panel was illuminating and lots of new connections were made. The films and events were rich with testimony, strategy and respite in these challenging times. Thanks to Linda and Harry Eaddy and the DBFF Crew. Community Action at work!