From Love Imagined to the possibility of Love-Septuagenarian: love is what happens when I die.
If you’re not familiar with the writer I am, here’s a brief bio:
I started writing in 2nd grade, but began a serious writing career in my early 30’s when I realized there were no books about a mixed-race person growing up passing for white—so I had to write it. It took me 20 years to earn an undergraduate degree, which I focused on writing and multi-cultural studies. Ten years later I entered an MFA program focusing on creative non-fiction and poetry. Since, I have taught creative writing at Metro State University; and, written several books.
Three years ago I began writing a book of poems, Oh So Wild Oh So Beautiful. Two years ago the book became a book of prose. Last year the book, a memoir, returned to poetry with a new title, Septuagenarian: love is what happens when I die; and, this year, December 2020, the final manuscript was submitted and will be published March 2021.
2020 was a difficult year for so many for so many reasons. I had to remind myself that not everyone can be out in the streets protesting, but there is something we can all do to fight injustice. I had to remind myself I am a writer and I can write. And that’s what I did. I wrote poems for an online anthology, A Moment of Silence. I wrote an endorsement for a Minnesota Senate hopeful. And, deep reflection went into my memoir which included the letting go of shame, the ability to forgive, and the acceptance that survival is a commendable act of resistance. Septuagenarian also was the response to Love Imagined: a mixed-race memoir. Septuagenarian is the possibility of love; yes, even at the age of 72.
