Hurricanes and Hometowns: Interview with Writer Nordette Adams (Part 2)

  Cover of Adams' "Dancing Through the Word Labyrinth" CD.

If you missed Part One of Hurricanes and Hometowns please click here . Part two begins below:

Aberjhani: What would you describe as the primary differences between those bloggers who are not journalists per se but practice what has been described as “citizen journalism,” and those professional journalists who have taken up blogging?

Nordette: Did you ask this question to get me into trouble? I think the difference is ethics training. Professional journalists, whether they honor it or not, have had courses in how to quote properly and not plagiarize or tamper with intent, how to report in an objective manner, how to do research and verify sources. Citizen journalists don't have the training, but they can learn and must learn if they want to avoid being sued. What I see with professional journalists, including myself, is the struggle with the use of "I." We've been taught that the reader doesn’t care what we think, but new media journalism shows us that readers want our opinions. The trick is to not go overboard and become a diary writer, to share your opinion but still be fair and inclusive. Also, professional journalists have been taught that the story's the thing and now wonder why [just writing the story isn’t good enough.] Social media draws us into a world where people don't read you simply because you're good. They read you because they feel a connection to you. Being a successful journalist online is about networking almost as much as it is about writing well, linking to others in your own work, and giving shouts out sometimes whenever possible. Not exactly the way of the traditional lone writer.

Aberjhani: I know that in recent years you have had to face some of the same challenges as me in terms of serving as a caregiver for aging parents. How has that affected you as a person and impacted upon you as a writer?

Nordette: I had more help than you did. My father was around to help with my mother and so were my children when my parents moved into my home, and so I was a little less isolated. I haven't yet fully processed how it's impacted me as a writer except that I'm aware of a need to have a more authentic voice with staying power, and I've been thinking more about self-mythology, the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, how that translates into writing because at the end my mother, a woman of stories, did not know who I was or who she was either. I look at my father, whose memory is rather good, and see that I thought I knew him, but I really I do not. I keep contemplating what we do for love.

Aberjhani: What is the last work of fiction you read that made a strong impression on you and why did it move you so deeply?

Nordette: I'm reading Toni Morrison's novel, A Mercy and while it is a compelling story, I have to say for the moment I am more impressed by how Morrison is telling the story than the story itself. I'm fascinated by the high craft it takes to do what she's done with language, syntax manipulation to create character and move through time. I recall what one of my fiction writing professors said of her once, "Oh, her. Who knows how she does what she does?" I know I'll have to read it again.

Cover of audiobook for Toni Morrison's novel A Mercy.
 

Aberjhani: I had a similar reaction to A Mercy and will also have to read it again. The manner in which Morrison adopts so completely and communicates through the consciousness of characters centuries removed from her own is phenomenal, especially when you’re talking about a character who shares neither her race nor her gender. That kind of literary alchemy is profound and rare. Have you read either of President Barack Obama’s books and if so, what is your take on him as a writer?

Nordette: I have The Audacity of Hope as an audio book. He is an exceptional writer, eloquent. Wonderful cadence.

Aberjhani: I’ve been reading and re-reading Dreams from My Father, which I have to admit totally floored me with its analytically precise and yet poetically graceful language. It’s very much like something any of the classic African-American writhers, like Ralph Ellison or Richard Wright could have written. But getting back to the wide range of your literary expertise discussed earlier, how is it some publisher has not wooed you to produce a book (or several for that matter) that they could market and turn into a bestseller?

Nordette: Someone is talking to me. Keep your fingers crossed, and it's a recent development. Other than that, I can only blame myself for not producing a book yet. I think, however, that's about to change.

Aberjhani: Is there anything you would like to add that I have not asked you?

Nordette: I cannot think of a thing except to give you the easiest way for people to find my work. They can hit the link http://Her411.com to get to feeds of the African-American Books Examiner, the New Orleans Literature Examiner, BlogHer.com, and my blog Whose Shoes Are These Anyway? I may even have a poetry link or two.

Aberjhani: Thank you Nordette for taking the time to engage in some thoroughly enjoyable creative conversatin’ and letting readers learn just a little bit more about you, your very dynamic work, and your world.

Nordette: Thank you Aberjhani for selecting me as one of your interview subjects. I am honored, and it's been a pleasure.

Aberjhani is the African American Art Examiner and the author (or co-author) of eight books including The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance and The American Poet Who Went Home Again.