Publishing, Performing And Poetry

When Tyrone Jones '00 was not satisfied with the way ethnicity was handled in a seminar on the role of homosexuality in American literature and culture, he responded with a final project to compensate. For an assigned 12-page paper, he turned in a 12-page proposal that he eventually turned into a 50-page piece.

Jones is not done with his writing yet; although he already anticipates using the material for his thesis, he says he ultimately would like to see his work in print.

Although it's not uncommon for students to work incredibly hard on their writing, few undergraduates think their work will earn them anything other than a good grade.

Yet there exists a handful of students at Harvard, like Jones, who have larger plans for their work. They want their work to be read by more people than just their T.F. They want their work to be in the public eye. A small minority of Harvard students either offer their work to publishers and producers or self-publish and perform their writing.

Extending an Assignment

Tentatively entitled "Living in the margins: an exploration of the liminal existence of gay black men within the liminal existence of black people," Jones describes the focus of his paper as "the perception of otherness within otherness."

"What happens if one is a minority in the American construction and then within that construction gay?" he asks. "What is the existence of a person who is double minority?"

Jones would like to pursue this project not only because he thinks that there has not been enough research on people who are both gay and black, but also because he feels compelled to have his voice heard.

"It's a difficult struggle, it's a long struggle and it's a struggle that I endured alone for the most part, so I don't want my black gay counterparts of a younger age to feel as if there is nothing out there to help them endure," he says.

Jones admits that he is hesitant about the appeal of his subject matter to a broad audience and thus to the profit-minded publishing industry, but he points to a recent rise in writing published by younger writers.

"We need multiple perspectives...not just one singular perspective of someone who has gone through and gotten that Ph.D and that master's and taught for 10 years and achieved a certain level of prominence in the academic community."

Say Hello to Hollywood

Jones is not the only young writer in search of a broader audience. Corey G. May '99 learned about the professional writing track at age 17 when he sold a screenplay to Gibraltor Productions for more than $20,000.

May describes his script, "What it Takes," as "sort of like 'Clueless' but from a male's perspective, about coming of age in Beverly Hills" and says that his piece may have been optioned before 'Clueless' was sold.

Although his screenplay was never produced, May says that during his film negotiations he learned many technical skills such as how to format a script, how to manipulate voice-overs and how to define character action while still allowing for actor interpretation.

"It was clear that [my script] had been written by an amateur, but I think that they expected that," he says. "I suspect that they were also excited to tout something new and unique, a young kid writing a screen-play."

Since then, May has completed one screenplay and is in the process of writing three others.

The first, which he is writing with a Los Angeles screenwriter and an MIT professor, is an action film. However May insists that he cannot reveal more because they are in the process of marketing the script.

The second piece, of which May has written about 60 pages, plays with the societal response to a return to creationism.

May also recently began work on what he calls "a black comedy version of 'Less than Zero,' about a bunch of angry, liberal college kids who do drugs and hate the world."

Although May says that he is often worried about compromising the integrity of his writing for the popular demand of the film market, May says he manages to differentiate screenwriting from his more personal work.

Although May writes several other works besides his screenplays, he says he would never dream of publishing that work, much less sharing it with other people.

"I just write to practice sometimes, to learn about my style and how to refine it," he says. "In the long run you'll feel better about stuff you wrote just for the sake of writing and it will come more naturally to you."

Yet May also acknowledges the similarities between writing for class and writing for an audience.

"When you write a really good essay, you can sense that, but sometimes you have to write an essay because that is what the assignment is...sometimes the assignment is to write something and instead of a grade I will get money."

Although May has been successful in his writing career, he says that negative criticism can still discourage him.

"It has stopped me a lot of time," he says. "I never write poems anymore because one person once said something that I construed as a negative comment and I'll probably never write poetry again."

Brushing Off the Critics

Chiqui O. Matthew '00, who primarily writes poetry and song lyrics but also has worked on screenwriting and short stories, fronts a different response when approached with criticism.

"I take it with a grain of salt--I say, 'hmm, good point, thanks,' but I don't really change my writing for anyone," Matthew says. "Writing is a personal thing, like music. You can't really critique someone's piano style because that's their expression."

Matthew, who reads his poetry at clubs and lounges in the Boston area and on campus, also attributes his failure to receive criticism to his extemporaneous style of writing, what he calls "gushing."

"Often I just let myself release for 30 minutes or so and see what comes out," he says. "I make time. I say 'Forget the Ec10 Problem Set, it's time to write.'"

Matthew, who practices his poetry about two hours a week, says he wants to "carve a niche for [himself] in the creative community here in Cambridge."

And indeed Matthew has shared his writing with both the local and the Harvard community.

He was a featured artist at the Lizard Lounge and his poetry will appear on a CD the Cambridge club is producing; tonight he is performing at the Underground, a club in Providence; and he will open for the Last Poets, a hip hop group, at MIT next weekend.

On campus he reads his poetry and often freestyles (a form of rap in which the lyrics are made up impromptu), which he considers "a form of oral poetry."

Matthew says that his written poetry has had an important impact on his freestyling.

"Most people freestyle about frivolous topics like 'my shoes are better than yours,' but I speak through symbols and metaphors when I rhyme and if you're not on my level and you're not listening to me, then you won't catch up," he says.

Starting Young

Tammy L. Brown '98 also recites original poetry for an audience. Yet Brown had her first opportunity to share her poetry with the public when she was 16 competing for Miss Black Teen Cincinatti in 1992.

In her junior year of high school Brown performed an original choreopoem, which she described as "a dramatic presentation of poetry, with music, singing and dancing."

But Brown's writing career began even earlier than that. Brown says she has been writing poetry since she was in the sixth grade and at 17 self-published a book of poetry that sells for $14.95.

This year Brown will put on another choreopoem called "I Cannot Be Moved," which is a "chronological collage of snapshots of Black history" according to Brown.

Brown also reads her poetry at campus events and leads poetry workshops for young girls.

"Most of my poems are usually inspired by conversations," she says. "Someone may say one word or one sentence that just sparks a whole poem. I write about it to say how I am feeling and how I am thinking as best I can."

As an example, Brown recalls the origin of "Georgia," a poem from her recent show. The poem explores a young man's struggle to reconcile his love for his mother with his hatred for the slave master who raped his grandmother, she says.

"The metaphor I used was a nectarine and it was inspired by a silly conversation I had at work with some guy who told me that the fruit is a cross between a peach and a plum," she says. "I used the plum to represent his grandmother who is dark and a peach to represent the slave master.

"So that's how poems are inspired," she says with a laugh. "It's all about how I am feeling and how I am thinking.

"It was clear that [my script] had been written by an amateur, but I think that they expected that," he says. "I suspect that they were also excited to tout something new and unique, a young kid writing a screen-play."

Since then, May has completed one screenplay and is in the process of writing three others.

The first, which he is writing with a Los Angeles screenwriter and an MIT professor, is an action film. However May insists that he cannot reveal more because they are in the process of marketing the script.

The second piece, of which May has written about 60 pages, plays with the societal response to a return to creationism.

May also recently began work on what he calls "a black comedy version of 'Less than Zero,' about a bunch of angry, liberal college kids who do drugs and hate the world."

Although May says that he is often worried about compromising the integrity of his writing for the popular demand of the film market, May says he manages to differentiate screenwriting from his more personal work.

Although May writes several other works besides his screenplays, he says he would never dream of publishing that work, much less sharing it with other people.

"I just write to practice sometimes, to learn about my style and how to refine it," he says. "In the long run you'll feel better about stuff you wrote just for the sake of writing and it will come more naturally to you."

Yet May also acknowledges the similarities between writing for class and writing for an audience.

"When you write a really good essay, you can sense that, but sometimes you have to write an essay because that is what the assignment is...sometimes the assignment is to write something and instead of a grade I will get money."

Although May has been successful in his writing career, he says that negative criticism can still discourage him.

"It has stopped me a lot of time," he says. "I never write poems anymore because one person once said something that I construed as a negative comment and I'll probably never write poetry again."

Brushing Off the Critics

Chiqui O. Matthew '00, who primarily writes poetry and song lyrics but also has worked on screenwriting and short stories, fronts a different response when approached with criticism.

"I take it with a grain of salt--I say, 'hmm, good point, thanks,' but I don't really change my writing for anyone," Matthew says. "Writing is a personal thing, like music. You can't really critique someone's piano style because that's their expression."

Matthew, who reads his poetry at clubs and lounges in the Boston area and on campus, also attributes his failure to receive criticism to his extemporaneous style of writing, what he calls "gushing."

"Often I just let myself release for 30 minutes or so and see what comes out," he says. "I make time. I say 'Forget the Ec10 Problem Set, it's time to write.'"

Matthew, who practices his poetry about two hours a week, says he wants to "carve a niche for [himself] in the creative community here in Cambridge."

And indeed Matthew has shared his writing with both the local and the Harvard community.

He was a featured artist at the Lizard Lounge and his poetry will appear on a CD the Cambridge club is producing; tonight he is performing at the Underground, a club in Providence; and he will open for the Last Poets, a hip hop group, at MIT next weekend.

On campus he reads his poetry and often freestyles (a form of rap in which the lyrics are made up impromptu), which he considers "a form of oral poetry."

Matthew says that his written poetry has had an important impact on his freestyling.

"Most people freestyle about frivolous topics like 'my shoes are better than yours,' but I speak through symbols and metaphors when I rhyme and if you're not on my level and you're not listening to me, then you won't catch up," he says.

Starting Young

Tammy L. Brown '98 also recites original poetry for an audience. Yet Brown had her first opportunity to share her poetry with the public when she was 16 competing for Miss Black Teen Cincinatti in 1992.

In her junior year of high school Brown performed an original choreopoem, which she described as "a dramatic presentation of poetry, with music, singing and dancing."

But Brown's writing career began even earlier than that. Brown says she has been writing poetry since she was in the sixth grade and at 17 self-published a book of poetry that sells for $14.95.

This year Brown will put on another choreopoem called "I Cannot Be Moved," which is a "chronological collage of snapshots of Black history" according to Brown.

Brown also reads her poetry at campus events and leads poetry workshops for young girls.

"Most of my poems are usually inspired by conversations," she says. "Someone may say one word or one sentence that just sparks a whole poem. I write about it to say how I am feeling and how I am thinking as best I can."

As an example, Brown recalls the origin of "Georgia," a poem from her recent show. The poem explores a young man's struggle to reconcile his love for his mother with his hatred for the slave master who raped his grandmother, she says.

"The metaphor I used was a nectarine and it was inspired by a silly conversation I had at work with some guy who told me that the fruit is a cross between a peach and a plum," she says. "I used the plum to represent his grandmother who is dark and a peach to represent the slave master.

"So that's how poems are inspired," she says with a laugh. "It's all about how I am feeling and how I am thinking.