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English Seminar!

Writing

The following is according to: Mel, Gussow. "Once Again, Alice Walker Is Ready to Embrace Her Freedom to Change." New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York. N.Y.:Dec 26, 2000. pg E.1

When she is moved by something, she may write about it, which is what happened with her novel "Possessing the Secret of Joy" and her nonfiction book, "Warrior Marks," with Pratibha Parkar, both about female genital mutilation. "In some countries, they kill people who even talk about female genital mutilation," she said. "The first black woman in South Africa who publicly declared that she had AIDS was stoned to death by her community."

After her divorce she wrote "The Color Purple," and it was a bolt of inspiration...In "The Color Purple," this meant telling the story in fictional form of her grandparents and the people who passed through their lives, and trying to heal the rifts in her family.

"There's an ecstatic side to writing," she added. "It's like jazz. It just has a life."

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Writing Career and Success

Walker's first book of poetry, Once, was published in 1976 when Alice was only twenty-four years old. and she took a brief sabbatical from writing when she was in Mississippi working in the civil rights movement. Walker resumed her writing career when she joined Ms. magazine as an editor before moving to northern California in the late 1970s. An article she published in 1975 was largely responsible for the renewal of interest in the work of Zora Neale Hurston, who was a large source of inspiration for Walker's writing and subject matter. In 1973, Walker and fellow Hurston scholar Charlotte D. Hunt discovered Hurston's unmarked grave in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Both women paid for a modest headstone for the gravesite.[15]

Walker says about her writing, "I create characters who sometimes speak in the language of immediate ancestors, characters who are not passive but active in the discovery of what is vital and real in this world. Characters who explore what it would feel like not to be imprisoned by the hatred of women, the love of violence, and the destructiveness of greed taught to human beings as the 'religion' by which they guide their lives." Walker, Alice. Anything We Love Can Be Saved. New York: Random House, 1997. In addition to her collected short stories and poetry, Walker's first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, was published in 1970. In 1976, Walker's second novel, Meridian, was published. The novel dealt with activist workers in the South during the civil rights movement, and closely paralleled some of Walker's own experiences.

In 1982, Walker would publish what has become her best-known work, the novel The Color Purple. The story of a young black woman fighting her way through not only racist white culture but patriarchal black culture was a resounding commercial success. The book became a bestseller and was subsequently adapted into a critically acclaimed 1985 movie as well as a 2005 Broadway musical play.

Walker has written several other novels, including The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy (which featured several characters and descendants of characters from The Color Purple) and has published a number of collections of short stories, poetry, and other published work.

Her works typically focus on the struggles of blacks, particularly women, and their struggle against a racist, sexist, and violent society. Her writings also focus on the role of women of color in culture and history. Walker is a respected figure in the liberal political community for her support of unconventional and unpopular views as a matter of principle.

Additionally, Walker has published several short stories, including the 1973 Everyday Use, in which she discusses feminism, racism against blacks, and the issues raised by young black people who leave home and lose respect for their parents' culture.[16]

- Anything we love can be save pg 4.

"Walker's writings often address the dual horrors of racism and sexism that black women frequently face. Chris Wyatt observed for women's studies (December 2000). 'Alice Walker's work continues to be some of teh most widely read and most often taught texts authored by African women."