Prince Shakur – Medium

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On Signing My First Book Deal

Only a few months ago, my outlook on the creative and art world was bleak. I was in muddy waters with my manuscript that had been on submissions for six months. I turned down a book offer from an editor that I’m pretty sure hadn’t even read the book. I…

Writing

2 min read

Published in Momentum

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The History and Power of Queer Black Friendships

Four legendary creative collaborations — The first time I knew my words had triggered something deep in someone was when I finished a two-week summer writers workshop when I was 15. I climbed into my mother’s car, read her one of my poems, and watched her face change as she heard it. If my own…

Black History Month

6 min read

The History and Power of Queer Black Friendships

Jan 31

On Becoming The Writer You Need To Be

I was 15 years old when my mother drove from Cleveland, OH to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio for a two weeks writers workshop. Only weeks before, my mother found out that I was gay by rummaging through my room and reading my journal. As a teen that loved…

Writers On Writing

6 min read

Jan 24

Why I Turned Down My First Book Deal

Although my first book comes out this October, it’s still important to talk about the experiences along the way to help others navigate similar experiences. In all of my research into getting published, I’ve seldom encountered someone talking about why they turned down a first book deal. Well, this is my story and how knowing your worth as a writer is important. “WHEN THEY TELL YOU TO BE GOOD” IS COMING IN FALL 2022 WITH TIN HOUSE

Writing

2 min read

Dec 15, 2021

How To Get A Literary Agent

With National Novel Writing Month and 2021 ending soon, it’s a good time to assess your 2022 writing goals with me. I imagine thousands upon thousands of writers will be polishing their NaNoWriMo manuscripts over the next weeks and months. At the end of this process, many will need literary…

Writing

4 min read

Oct 19, 2021

On Learning To Love Revision More

There are many different ways to revise or rewrite a book. I’m currently a writer with one project on the way out (with news on that coming soon) and another work-in-progress that’s on its fourth draft. As a child of the internet, I was a big fan of sites, like…

Writing

3 min read

Oct 8, 2021

What I Learned Through Travel, Activism, And (Eventually) Healing

I arrived in Standing Rock, North Dakota for the second time back in the winter of 2016. For months, indigenous leaders like LaDonna Brave Bull Ballard encouraged other indigenous tribes and activists to join the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. During my time there, I casually walked around in…

Travel

7 min read

Sep 17, 2021

Rating My Favorite Movies About Writers

Today we’ll be talking about movies with plots that involve writers because I’ve been obsessed with writer-oriented movies for a while. As a culture writer, I’m always thinking of how artists, especially writers, are represented in media; whether it be the suburban kid moving to the big city to write…

Writing

3 min read

Aug 18, 2021

What I Learned From Writing My 8th Book at 27

For the past few weeks, I’ve taken a hiatus from Millennial Writer Life. I attended two residencies in the summer (one of which ended in flames and tears), struggled to finish my book, started looking for a new literary agent, came back to Ohio, and eventually… after a few weeks…

Writing

5 min read

Jun 3, 2021

1977: Bob Marley And The Wailers, Exodus

Six months before there was an attempted assassination on his life at his home, 46 Hope Road, Bob Marley sat down outside at three am with his guitar and started to play. Vivian Goldman, a journalist and friend staying at his home, overheard Marley playing some of the lines of…

Bob Marley

11 min read