Letter from VONA Alums to VONA Alums

Dear VONA Alums:

            We are writing because you are a VONA alum and because you share VONA’s mission of bringing more writers of color into the world. As you are probably aware, VONA runs on a shoe-string budget. Despite its incredible growth, from 35 applicants out of 50 in 1999, to almost 500 applications and 132 students in 2009, its two founders, Diem Jones and Elmaz Abinader have efficiently managed it out of their dining room tables.

            For the past several years, even as our world has experienced economic upheaval, VONA’s tuition has maintained relatively stable, including in 2010. However, this year, post-budget and after the workshops were announced, USF increased its fees for space. They said they’d generously reduced rates in the past. However, the increase means that VONA will no doubt run at a deficit. This isn’t like other government deficits that might be rolled into next year’s budget; unless we make up this money, Diem and Elmaz will need to pay the difference. We can’t allow this to happen to VONA’s co-founders.

            We are writing to you to ask for help. We are each pledging between $25 and $100 to VONA this year and invite you to make a monetary contribution to VONA in any amount you choose. Whatever you can donate will be greatly appreciated.

            Though our main reason for writing is this year’s costs, there’s more at stake. For most of us, VONA has been a gift – a launching pad to our first publications, new careers, MFA programs, not to mention an unmatched connection to an expansive and culturally diverse writing community. We cannot imagine an arts community without VONA.

            But more importantly, we want to pay it forward by becoming an integral part of VONA’s future. As VONA alum, we have had the privilege of working with brilliant faculty. We want to make sure that VONA remains viable to new and young writers of color who are searching for their voices, who have never published, who are rich with raw talent but poor in skill and funds – writers who are looking for a home.

            To ensure this continues, VONA needs to grow more robust. And it needs us to grow. With our help, VONA will thrive. We can already see evidence of it in our updated website, Facebook page, and newsletter. Elmaz and Diem anticipate incorporating VONA as a non-profit organization, creating its own board and removing administrative fees. Imagine VONA with programs, mentorships, a literary magazine, and the long-awaited anthology. The possibilities are endless...

            We have big dreams, but why shouldn’t we? 

            Can you be a part of our dream? Can you help us grow VONA? The easiest way to give is to go to the website, click on Giving & Volunteering and pay through Paypal. Go to http://voicesatvona.org/giving.html. 

You can also send a check to the following address: Voices of our Nation Arts Foundation, c/o Community Initiatives, Inc. 354 Pine Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94104

All donations are tax deductible. Remember, no gift is too small or too big; anything you give now will help. And please, send this email to your families, colleagues, as well as other artists and friends who appreciate the written word by writers of color. We’d like this letter to circulate widely. Finally, whether you send a check or donate through Paypal, please take a minute to let us know. Send May Chan a message at: info@voicesatvona.org or call her at 866-202-6152 to confirm how much you are planning on donating.

            Thanks in advance for your help. Peace and best wishes on your writer’s journey.

With much gratitude,

Sharline Chiang – alum since 2003

Sara Campos – alum since 2004

Teri Elam – alum since 2002

Miriam Louie – alum since 2004

Andrea Walls – alum since 2008

Jacqueline Luckett: Searching for Tina Turner

One writer’s search for the meaning of life after marriage leads to first novel

by Yvelette Stines

It started with a writing class at U.C. Berkeley Extension about a decade ago. This month, when Jacqueline Luckett’s debut novel, Searching for Tina Turner (Grand Central Publishing) hits bookstores nationwide it will mark the culmination of years of determination, hard work and faith.

The book also embodies Luckett’s challenge to herself years ago to write a story that would both capture and help her push through her “personal breadth of emotional pain” after her divorce.

“Several women I knew were going through a divorce at the same time I was. Each of us chose to move on to the next stage of our lives," she says. "I wondered how any of us were going to fare after our long-term marriages and that curiosity led me to Lena, the novel’s main character. Certainly in the first draft I didn't look to inspire or help other women. But as I moved on through my revisions, I found that the messages were there: reinvention and the possibilities of new beginnings."

A woman on the verge of change

Searching for Tina Turner is the story of Lena Spencer, a fifty-ish woman who lives in Oakland and seems to have it all—a wealthy husband, two wonderful children and a good life—yet she struggles to maintain her own happiness. When Randall, her husband, decides that he's had enough of marriage counseling, he offers an ultimatum: “Be grateful for all I've done for you or leave.” Lena, realizing that money can't solve her problems and that her husband is no longer the man she married, chooses the latter. Drawing strength from Tina Turner's life story, Lena goes on a journey to find herself after 23 years of being a wife and mother.

Luckett’s writing is already being compared to the early works of Terry McMillan. “A fierce, beautiful tour de force…a heroine for the ages,” says ZZ Packer in praise of Searching for Tina Turner. “Luckett is a writer to watch and admire.” This month, Essence Magazine named the book its January book club selection. Black Expressions Book Club has selected Luckett as a “Star on the Rise,” and will feature her and her book in their February 17th newsletter.

As someone who previously worked in the corporate world (she was a sales representative for Xerox), Luckett is now living her dream as a writer and published author. She planted the seed for her book back in 2004. That year Tina Turner was in the news for her compilation All the Best, which became her first album to go platinum in the U.S. in over eleven years. The Oakland-based writer, who had always been a fan of the feisty “Queen” of pop, rock and soul, became obsessed with Tina’s story of enduring spirit, grace and strength. It inspired Luckett to create the main character for her book, a woman on the verge of change.

“As I read I, Tina (Tina Turner’s autobiography), I put myself in Lena’s shoes and tried to imagine what Lena could gain from Tina’s story. I wanted her to focus on sections of the book that inspired her to move, without fear, into the next phase of her life.” 

Writing again on a dare
Writing and storytelling have always been part of Luckett’s life. Growing up, she kept diaries, wrote poetry and published stories in a local newspaper. But in college, as a sociology major at CSU Hayward, she put writing aside. She then worked in sales, married, and raised a family. In 1999, she took that fateful creative writing class at UC Berkeley that re-ignited her love for writing.

“I started writing on a dare from myself,” she explains. The class was called Exploring Your Creative Potential. "That UC Extension catalog came every quarter, and I know now that the writing classes were calling to me. Fear and self-doubt made me question myself: what if I don’t have any creative potential? What if I can't write—what then? The dare I gave to myself was to follow through, to take the writing class despite how fearful I was of failing.”

“VONA gave me the confidence”
Also in 1999 she discovered the then freshly launched Voices of Our Nations (VONA) writing workshops, and became one of the first students to attend its inaugural year at USF. For the next four years, she learned from some of the nation’s top writers including Christina Garcia, Danzy Senna, Junot Diaz, Ruth Forman, Terry McMillan and David Mura. She attributes much of her growth as a writer to the VONA workshops.

“VONA gave me the confidence and gentle nudges I needed to step out into the world and call myself a writer,” she says. “Working with (the instructors) helped me step away from my awe of their talent and accept their wisdom as teachers and masters of craft.”

For Luckett, as is true for most emerging writers, writing the book was only half the battle. Getting an agent was a journey unto itself.

The journey to publication
In March 2007, while continuing to work on the book, she researched and developed a list of agents who she thought would be interested in her novel. She pitched three in person and sent out queries to a dozen agents. In October 2007, she heard from two agents who had previously rejected her novel. They contacted her after reading an article in O Magazine about her writers group, the Finish Party—eight women writers of color (including ZZ Packer). But once again, after some contemplation, those agents came back to her and said no. Her search continued.

“They had good things to say about the book, but they didn’t feel that they could represent it,” she says. Finally, a month later, in November that year she found representation with her current agent Richard Abate.

Still, even with representation, Luckett says she didn’t consider herself a writer until she received an Advanced Reading Copy of Searching for Tina Turner.

“I saw what I had thought and dreamed of and that every word, comma, period, and semicolon was my own—then I felt like a writer,” she says.

Next up: Book two—Passing Love
Not one to stop and take a break, Luckett just submitted the manuscript for her second novel, Passing Love, a story of two women who believe that the city of Paris will fulfill their dreams of a better life. She is also working on a non-fiction book with a friend about coming out on the good side of divorce.

For those who are pursuing literary dreams of their own, Luckett encourages others to “write, read, join a writing group, take classes and workshops, believe in yourself, learn to accept all feedback, work hard and live your dream.”

For more information visit www.jacquelineluckett.com.

Yvlette Stines is a VONA alum.

Kenji Liu -- Turning Grief and Memory into Poetry

(photo credit: Tiffany Eng)

by Yvelette Stines


Kenji Liu is passionate about social issues. Born in Japan, raised in New Jersey, and currently based in Oakland, Liu’s writing arises from his work as an activist, educator and cultural worker. He uses his writing to examine connections between the personal and political.

“I’m often interested in writing about the mundane details of life that illuminate larger social and historical issues,” he says. “To me, a writer is also a public intellectual who has the responsibility to illuminate social issues. The trick is finding ways of doing it without hitting people over the head. That’s why it's called creative writing.” 

Debut chapbook nominated for awards
With this passion, Liu wrote his first chapbook, You Left Without Your Shoes, which was published by Finishing Line Press last year. 

In his debut, Liu explores the interweavings of migration, love, memory and mourning in an autobiography of poems spanning four years. Beginning with the untimely death of his mother, this collection contemplates the difficult task of transforming one's relationship with the dead and the renewal of life that can accompany it.

“The chapbook was a kind of exploration of my grieving process with my mother's passing in 2005. It took time to get to the manuscript point because it was ultimately important to me to distinguish between poems that were for the public and those that were just therapeutic for me," he says. "It was not conceived of as a book to start with, but when the Finishing Line Press chapbook contest came around I saw that the main theme tying much of my writing together was my mother. This is how it evolved.”

The collection has already been nominated for a California Book Award by Finishing Line Press’ editor, Leah Maines. In addition, his poem, “Poem to Myself as a Newborn,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Kartika Review.

“I am excited to be nominated but am also moving forward,” he says. “Nomination just means that I will hold myself to high standards.”

Thanking Suheir and VONA
Liu gives much credit to poet, spoken word artist and long-time VONA instructor Suheir Hammad. “I give her credit for giving me a very essential push, by telling me I was ready to put a book together. That is when I started to take my writing more seriously, as something more than just a hobby. Having her as an instructor and knowing that we weren’t that far apart in age was also important. She is a great example setter.”

Along with Suheir’s encouragement, Liu appreciates VONA for allowing him to write the stories that are important to him while never letting up on quality-control.

“Where else can I insert Japanese and Chinese words and experiences into my writing and not have to defend those choices?” says the self-described “1.5 generation Japanese-born Taiwanese American expatriate of New Jersey suburbia.” He is also inspired by the selection of VONA instructors each year. “Where else can I get to know so many prize-winning faculty of color whose work I admire in one place?”

With all the excitement surrounding Liu’s writing, he is still honing his craft and embracing new experiences in his writing life.

“I’m slowly developing what will eventually be a full-length manuscript that combines poetry, prose, memoir and visual art. As both a writer and visual artist, I feel compelled to combine these parts of my life,” he says.

Liu’s writing has appeared in Tea Party Magazine, Kartika Review, and the 2009 Intergenerational Writer’s Workshop online anthology Flick of My Tongue. He was a presenting literary artist at APAture 2009, a multidisciplinary Asian Pacific American art festival held in San Francisco each year. Starting this year, he will be the new poetry editor at Kartika Review (where VONA alum Christine Zilka Lee is currently the fiction editor). A freelance graphic designer, Liu holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology and Social Transformation from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Staying present
To keep his writing process consistent, Liu participates in a writing group that meets once a month to write and offer feedback on one another’s work. He also free writes a couple times a week. Other influences that feed his writing include reading critical theory, creating or experiencing visual arts, and creating or hearing music, particularly jazz. “I often prefer to write where there are people around, like cafes.”

Liu says he is constantly digesting some sound advice he received about the writing life.

“Conceive of writing as practice rather than waiting for the thunderbolt of inspiration, which might never come. This takes writing from being a hobby towards being a life.”

For Liu, paying radical attention is a constant practice that feeds his writing, scholarship, activism and life in general. “To stay awake and present in the world is the hardest thing to do. But that's where my writing takes root.”

For more information about Kenji, go to his site at liusan.wordpress.com.

Yvelette Stines is a VONA alum.