From: Sundeefrazier at cs.com <Sundeefrazier>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 01:49:46 EDT

Those of us involved in the MFA Writing for Children program at Vermont College had the pleasure of interacting with Vera B. Williams in July. She read from her works and answered questions ranging from "How does her desire for social change impact her work?" to "Has she received criticism for her depictions of people outside of her racial group?" (I personally love her multicultural heart/emphasis, which is so unforced/natural, and thanked her personally for the grandmother and baby in "More, More, More" who are different colors -- although she herself pointed out, "Who said the grandmother's not Black? You can't tell who people are by what they look like." As a mixed race person, I say amen!)

When I asked her how she maintains and nurtures such a childlike point of view she gave a very interesting response. In essence she said that it was getting harder and harder, and that after finishing "Amber was Brave, Essie was Smart" she felt that a certain chapter of her writing had come to a close--I took her to mean the more carefree, unemcumbered stories of childhood pre-confrontation with adult realities and woes. She said she felt Amber/Essie would be her greatest contribution--what everything else was leading up to. She read the entire book to us, and it was incredible. Very moving--and, she said, based on her life experience of being a child of the Depression.

It was a true honor to be in her presence.

Sundee Frazier
Received on Tue 05 Aug 2003 12:49:46 AM CDT