A couple years ago a professor (English 212) had asked me to read a poem written by a First Nation's person. The only problem is she asked me to read it by saying, in front of the whole class, "...because of your beautiful Indian accent."
A lot of classmates told me how shocked they were. I didn't think I had that much of an "Indian accent."
Just this semester, however, a fellow student in a different class asked me if I was "native." She wondered if I was native because of my accent, apparently, and not because of my appearance.
Not that I feel ashamed, but I do feel shy about it.
I don't have an eloquent speaking voice. Which is why I write. It's the voice I wish I had.
Writing puts me into context. Writing delivers me from the stereotypes I feel that I sometimes receive from my appearance and my voice.
Yes, writing, for me, is deliverance.
It's repentance, its penance, its forgiveness and reconciliation, all mixed up together. Its the destination and the journey, the desire and the fulfillment of desire, the mourning and the celebration.
Monday 28 November 2011
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Children's stories
I really appreciated Courtney and Jessie's presentation's last week. Original fairy tale narratives are definitely a lot more intersting than today's toned down versions! Furthermore, I, for one, am also a parent who appreciates that children's writing has a lot of things that only parents would understand.
Lately, I've been reading Milne's "The House at Pooh Corner" to my daughters....a chapter each night. They are 4 and 6 and they actually enjoy it. I had thought they might be disinterested in the book because it has very minimal pictures, which are black and white at that.
But I found that the story itself is very interesting to them. And I think it is more valuable to read them Milne's original story rather than some of the more disnified versions we see today. I'm going to find some more "originals" to read them. On my list is E B White's "Charlotte's Web," and perhaps some Rudyard Kipling, etc, etc. Then I"ll move on to some more recent authors!
Lately, I've been reading Milne's "The House at Pooh Corner" to my daughters....a chapter each night. They are 4 and 6 and they actually enjoy it. I had thought they might be disinterested in the book because it has very minimal pictures, which are black and white at that.
But I found that the story itself is very interesting to them. And I think it is more valuable to read them Milne's original story rather than some of the more disnified versions we see today. I'm going to find some more "originals" to read them. On my list is E B White's "Charlotte's Web," and perhaps some Rudyard Kipling, etc, etc. Then I"ll move on to some more recent authors!
Tuesday 15 November 2011
The Mind is the Womb
Just now I have the urge to write this. If the mind is the womb for our words, then we have no choice but to wait for our words to mature. By this I mean, we all have a writer inside of us, developing and growing. What are we doing, in the meantime, to nurture that development?
I have to admit, I am sometimes scared of the words I give birth to. Is what I write really okay? My portfolio story kind of just fell out of me. those are the exact words that came to mind when I finished typing the last page. I thought, wow, that just fell out of me! I think it was a story that was developing for a long time, and I was just finally able to write it. But now, I am unsure about it. I know its not a mutant baby, or anything like that, but I'm scared of what came out of me, if that makes any sense at all!
Lord help me!
I have to admit, I am sometimes scared of the words I give birth to. Is what I write really okay? My portfolio story kind of just fell out of me. those are the exact words that came to mind when I finished typing the last page. I thought, wow, that just fell out of me! I think it was a story that was developing for a long time, and I was just finally able to write it. But now, I am unsure about it. I know its not a mutant baby, or anything like that, but I'm scared of what came out of me, if that makes any sense at all!
Lord help me!
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Writing as Art, Literally!
This is something I always found amazing. Right now, I am taking Japanese 101 and have discovered something very cool.
The Japanese verb for "to write" (i.e to write a letter) is the same verb that they use to indicate that an artist is "painting or drawing" art. There is no difference. I absolutely love that.
For me, it indicates how the Japanese culture equates writing with drawing, how writing is actually the act of an artist. This is something that can be plainly seen when you look at their writing system--hiragana, katana, kanji--they are all written with particular stroke orders, stops and hooks and, in my opinion, are very beautiful. When I am writing in hiragana, katakana and especially in kanji, I do get the sense that writing, for the Japanese, is, quite literally, art!!
The Japanese verb for "to write" (i.e to write a letter) is the same verb that they use to indicate that an artist is "painting or drawing" art. There is no difference. I absolutely love that.
For me, it indicates how the Japanese culture equates writing with drawing, how writing is actually the act of an artist. This is something that can be plainly seen when you look at their writing system--hiragana, katana, kanji--they are all written with particular stroke orders, stops and hooks and, in my opinion, are very beautiful. When I am writing in hiragana, katakana and especially in kanji, I do get the sense that writing, for the Japanese, is, quite literally, art!!
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