Poet, author and scholar [inside my journal]

Dr. Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is an American artist, author, poet and scholar. She talks about her time in Namibia, how using her journal brings clarity, and her advice on getting published…

Where did you grow up and where have you lived since?

I am a New Yorker. I was born and raised in Queens and went to high school in Manhattan. I moved to the South for college, moved to California for graduate school, then moved when I fell in love with my husband. 

He was living in Amsterdam, so we lived in Holland for a bit, then in Namibia for a bit, then in Belgium, and then we moved back to New York. Seven years ago, we moved to Providence, Rhode Island so I could attend Brown University. This is the longest that I've ever been out of New York.

Do you miss The Big Apple?

Always. But Providence is really beautiful and we have a good community here. It's a cozy place; a place where you can play and do things, creative things, in a way that I didn't do in New York. I always miss New York but I'm finding my way here. There are really nice beaches here, which is a bonus. Being at the beach, writing, relaxing, just being, is amazing.

You're an artist, you're a scholar, you're a poet, and an author. Do you have a favourite discipline?

That's a tough question. From really early on – age16 – I decided I was going to be a writer. And I thought of myself as a writer. But  in my twenties, I found myself really swept up in a community of poets.

I think about James Baldwin's definition of a poet, which has nothing to do with what you write on the page; it’s the way you approach life. No matter if I'm curating an art exhibition, writing about herbs, or doing scholarly research, I have a sense of being an outsider who's inside the soul of a thing. Being a poet is about being present. So, of all the areas I work across, I gravitate most towards the poet in me.

You are the author of five books and your newest children’s book, We Go Slow, has just been released. Tell us more…

It's a collaboration between myself and illustrator Araon Becker and is a story about living unhurried lives with open hearts. I have three daughters, and when my 18-year-old read the manuscript, she immediately said: “Oh, this is our lives!” I hadn’t intended that. I wasn’t really conscious of it, but she instantly saw all these little pieces of our own story that appeared in the book.

We Go Slow follows my previous children’s book Layla’s Happiness, which won several awards including the Ezra Jack Keats Award. It was also chosen as 2021 Rhode Island Great Read, a Brain Picking Best Book of 2019, and it is 3-Time AALBC Bestselling Book. The attention was wild after feeling like an anonymous poet for so long. 

How do your journals come into your personal and work life?

I have boxes and boxes of journals! I've been writing journals since I was 12. I've been using paper republic journals for some years now. For me, they're a form of keeping sane.

I'm not kidding when I say that. I write in my journal a few times a week, at best, every day; it’s how I get clarity, especially during transitions. I've gone through a lot of difficult transitions over the last few years and journalling has really helped me to get clear with where I am, or at least allowed me to explore questions.

I just write about whatever is going on, whatever is on my mind. So it's a deeply personal tool. I keep using the word ‘clarity’, because I don't really get clarity unless I write in a journal. Talking to a friend is really helpful, but my journal functions as the first friend I talk to.

Is there something in particular that appeals to you about paper republic journals?

First of all, just the quality. They're so beautiful; the textures, the colours,  I just love to touch them. I also love to see the way the leather changes. The scratches and scuffs, it makes them interesting. 

I liked that I could get my initials on the cover. And I like the choice of paper refills. I hate lines in my journal. I absolutely hate them, so I love that I can get plain notebooks. I also really like the way the book refills are bound, they’re beautiful. I like the book art and I appreciate things that are made a certain way. It reminds me of traditional book binding. 

And then there’s paper itself; it’s so lovely and buttery!

I also love feeling part of the paper republic community because it feels real. I loved reading about other people, like the interview with Zhanina the artist. That was really interesting to me. I like the realness of it. These real people doing cool stuff, making art and writing. It's been fascinating to learn about them.

You mentioned in a previous interview that creative writing ideas usually come when you're writing in your journal. Why do you think that is? 

Neuroscientists tell us that what happens when you're writing is totally different than what happens when you type. There’s something about this physical act of writing by hand that unlocks something. For me it's like you've cleared off a desk, and then there's a blank piece of paper, and you have a pen in your hand, and suddenly (or slowly)  these creative ideas can emerge. 

You’re an American who has lived in Europe as well as Africa. What are the most notable differences you experienced between Africa compared to the US?

I was working in Namibia, teaching at a college which was right on the border of Angola. Perhaps the biggest difference was how time was perceived. In Namibia, your time wasn't crowded. When I first arrived there, I remember asking the person who ran the department I would be teaching in: 

“What are we teaching? What is the plan?”

And he just said to my colleague and I: “Let's go out.”

“But when are we getting our schedules?” I replied.

“You’ll get them, but now we are going out.”

We did go out and it was fun. He was trying to show us something about the culture of the place. It was important! We did of course get schedules. And we did find out what we were supposed to do. But I was so fixated on the way we do things in the US, which is: we need to know and we need to know now!

So I learned something about time and space and emptying your life of distraction; not rushing, not worrying. There was just a way of being, a way of being present and a way of belonging and not belonging that was amazing to me. 

People were always asking me what part of the continent I was from. Living without racism was a very new experience for me. Not having to worry about that was really liberating.

Something else about Namibia I noticed was that people really valued education. When people came into the classroom, they were prepared to learn. There was no foolishness. People were really trying to learn. The students really respected teachers and education; I love that aspect of Namibia and I miss it.

And finally, many people have the ambition to write a children’s book, but very few succeed in getting one published. What advice do you have for budding children’s book authors?

I approached everything as an artist. I really didn't understand the business of book publishing at all. I thought I could just write my book and someone would see me at a reading somewhere, and I would be offered a publishing contract. 

So, my advice is to  learn about the business of publishing. Get involved with organisations that can help you, like the Authors' Guild or The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators or Kweli. They have  workshops, sometimes about the craft of writing, but also about business, where you can meet agents or editors.

The other important thing is being tenacious and really having a vision. I’ve failed a lot. It took years of trying to sell my first children’s book and I had so many rejections with my poetry. Getting your work published is a lot of work so you need to keep going, which is challenging when you keep getting rejected. It can be a tough, long road. But don’t give up.

Dr. Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie’s latest book – We Go Slow – is out now. Discover more about her work at EkereTallie.com.

Photos copyright of: Sindayiganza Photography