Words From the Author and New Author of the Year 2000
Sam Greenlee and Pearl Cleage
Sam Greenlee
Acceptance words from..... Sam Greenlee.
Dear Sisters, I would be both pleased and honored to participate and receive your award. Given the changes the biracial blockade has put me through as a result of their paranoid reaction to both the book and film version of The Spook Who Sat by the Door, it is always refreshing to be reminded that my target audience appreciates what I did putting my soul into the tale. I had no idea when I wrote the book on an island of Mykonos during the summer of 1966 that one day Black people would call it a “classic”! By the way, Chicago’s my hometown and I’m looking forward to the conference as a result. …I decided to stop hitting my head against the wall and split for Spain in 1995; spent several years writing in the south of Spain and decided to make a long-postponed pilgrimage to the Motherland; arriving in Accra in late October of last year. So far it has proven an excellent move and I love it here! I did a dynamite poetry reading at USIS, my old outfit when I was in the Foreign Service … I’ve hooked up with Emile Jones, African American actor, producer, writer, director, who has been in Ghana for a bit more than a year. During that time he has produced a play at the national Theatre of Ghana and done television work as well. Emile recently offered a proposal at the National Theatre that would involve the two of us in a production of “hospice” a play by Pearl Cleage …. Emile would direct a Ghanaian cast of two, mother and daughter, and I would be Executive Producer. The play would be produced during the month long cultural festival in September…. I’ve not done so bad since my arrival in late October … done some good reworking of stage play and Spook screenplay; believe that I can make a creative career in Ghana. … By the way, my second autobiographical novel, Baghdad Blues was available on Amazon.com the last I checked. You might want to check it out; some folks like it better that Spook, but I don’t play favorites among my creations. ¯
Words From the New Author of the Year 2000
Pearl Cleage
My Sisters! Just a note to say thanks for an amazing afternoon of literary sisterhood in Chicago! It was a great honor to receive the award and to be part of a truly special moment. The response to my very first public reading from I Wish I Had a Red Dress was so enthusiastic and positive that I was overwhelmed and excited! I’ve been writing like crazy ever since I got back! Keep up the great work! We need you! Stay strong / Practice Peace! Pearl (Pearl Cleage)
