#sherese francis

[lifeinpoetry]

in an ocean of           wo man birth                      anger justified and the objectified         still wanting  to be seen                  and not wanting     whoIam                   to be unmade

— Sherese Francis, from “When the Phantom Strangles Liberty’s Chimera,” published in Cosmonauts Avenue

[queenslibrary]

Hear the diverse voices of Queens tomorrow at Sunnyside!

[queenslibrary]

[afrofuturistaffair]

How do we shape minds to think outside of the boxes of the oppressive cultures in which we live and develop responsible technologies? How do we cultivate cultures and critical thinking that will foster new technologies? How do we make available access to information, spaces and tools that will help people to create new technologies? A lot of how we see technology is steeped in Western thought of efficiency, progress and making capital and not how it enriches our lives, the lives of other animals, plants and the Earth. We still have a lot of unlearning to do.

Sherese Francis ( afutureancient )

Using Afrofuturism to Power New Modes of Tech – Interview with Futuristically Ancient Blogger Sherese Francis  via Blerds - Atlanta Black Star

[femmesfollesnebraska]

Sherese Francis, poet

Poet Sherese Francis generously opens up to Les Femmes Folles about the first poem she remembers writing, her current project and her blog, Futuristically Ancient, feminism, her advice for aspiring writers and much more...

Where are you from? How did you get into writing?

I am from Queens, New York. I officially started writing poetry I think around fifth grade, although I supposedly was making up little ditties before that (my dad has a video of me when I was around five making up a song). The first official poem that I remember writing and consciously knowing that I liked writing was a poem called “Ms. Blues” at 12. I had seen a black Barbie doll in a magazine dressed as a blues singer, and I wrote a poem based on the picture because I found it striking.

I wrote on and off from there but didn’t take writing poetry as seriously as I could have because other things were taking up my time, mostly trying to excel at school, and at that time I didn’t see much avenues open for a poet, especially one like me, a young black girl. But there was this moment in the 9th grade that inspired me to keep writing (even if it wasn’t as often) besides the support from friends and my cousin Rashida; I wrote a poem in a poetry club, called “Spanish Guitar.” A friend of mine took a copy of the poem home and showed her cousin who loved it so much that she got it framed and put it on her wall. It was not one of my favorite poems, but it motivated me in that my writing could inspire people. It was an awesome and overwhelming idea that I could affect someone like that.

I continued writing here and there, and published a few poems in my high school and college magazines, but I still didn’t focus on poetry as an option for myself. It wasn’t until the last semester of college career, when for one of my assignments in a writing class, I decided to write a poetry collection. I realized this was something I really wanted to do and with the Internet, I learned I found out more about the world of poetry. After college, since I had more time, I kept writing and building my skill, I went to a poetry workshop and learned more about expanding my skills and places to publish and the ball has kept rolling from there.

Tell me about your inspirations, process.

I get inspiration from anywhere. Usually I carry around a journal, some pieces of paper or at least my iPhone for the notes app, so I can write whatever ideas comes across my path. It can be a word or phrase I overheard or read, a conversation I was eavesdropping on, a random event while I’m on the street, a book I’m reading, a movie or TV show I’m watching, music, literally anything. I am also a researcher, so I am always looking up stuff and gathering information that inspires me, especially in the areas of mythology, speculative fiction, art and culture and social issues.

My process always starts with the notes I have and then looking at them to see what I can piece together. I see writing like doing a puzzle or like quilting in which you take from different sources to produce an answer to a creative question. After I write a first draft or the beginning of a work, I look for different ways I can play with it. I like to play with line breaks, homophones or to play with the musicality of words in general. Sometimes it comes natural and sometimes it takes some work to figure out. Another part of my process is deleting unnecessary words or replacing uncreative language. I used to over-explain, put too many words or play around with the figurative language as much as I could of in some of my earlier writing, so it wouldn’t be as compelling. So I have been working on that in the past few years.

Tell me about your current project and why it's important to you.

My current project is working on my first poetry collection, “. . . And the Water Breaks.” I began writing the first draft of it in the writing class in college. I tried sending it out to a couple of places early on, but as it was rejected, I set it aside and came back to realize that I still need to work on it after developing my skills. I am now doing a lot of rewriting on it. This is important to me because this work, I call it a poetic automythology, was the first work where I realized I could do this writing as an option for my life, and it is a reflection of who I am and my interests, combining elements of my life, others’ lives and world mythologies and speculative stories.

Artist Wanda Ewing, who curated and titled the original LFF exhibit, said of her work: "I've been making provocative art with a political edge in my Midwestern hometown since 1999. And to do that, you have to be tenacious as hell." Are you tenacious in your work or life? How so?

I usually don’t think of myself as tenacious, but I guess I am in a lot of ways. I often motivate myself to do things, especially because I don’t have many people constantly pushing me and reminding me to go after what I want. I am the type of person who doesn’t always like the conventional path, which can be scary at times because I am not sure if I am making the right choice, but it takes some amount of tenaciousness to keep going and follow what you believe in.

So far, I created my own major of music/journalism/creative writing at a mostly business-oriented school like Baruch College. I forewent for some time now getting a regular internship/job (where I wouldn’t get paid to write anyway, not get paid much or at least not do the things I want) to build up my blog, Futuristically Ancient, which I began in college. I pushed myself to write a thesis called The Percussive Approach in undergrad. Finally, I kept motivating myself to keep writing poetry, especially when few didn’t see the specialness in my writing as of yet to push me in that direction or mentor me. So yeah, I could say I am, but I am also lucky in a lot of ways, too because of the many opportunities I have had come my way and the people I do have in my corner. But I also work hard for those opportunities.

Ewing, who examined perspective of femininity and race in her work, spoke positively of feminism, saying “yes, it is still relevant” to have exhibits and forums for women in art; does feminism play a role in your work?

Yes. I feel I have no choice but for it to still be relevant. Everyday I see, for a black woman like me, that women like me and women in general are considered less valuable. Although there is so much about us that is of value – our minds, our bodies, our love, our emotions, our creativity, our compassion, our work, our sexuality, our sensuality is all treated with little respect.

As I said before, I study mythologies from around the world and as I study older religions, spiritualities and mythologies, I realize that they tend to have more representation of different kinds of women and are more appreciative of women; I came to value myself more because of these various myths. Myths and symbols structure our psyche and realities; the ones we have will determine the societies we produce. I think one of the main problems of today is that our mythologies and symbolisms still follow a very white hetero-patriarchal framework, mostly from Abrahamic religions, that exclude feminine power. But even I find that even in the earlier versions of these religions and others outside of them, there was reverence for us. That is one aspect I want to continue to showcase in my work, the humanity and the sacredness of us in our totality. As Lucille Clifton said, I want to celebrate the wonderfulness of me.

Ewing’s advice to aspiring artists was “you’ve got to develop the skill of when to listen and when not to;” and “Leave. Gain perspective.” What advice do you have for aspiring artists/writers?

One piece of advice I have is to be present, get to know yourself and the environment around you. One issue I had while writing and growing up was that I lacked things to write about because I didn’t stay present and observe the moments and places around me. I was a bit of a loner growing up and stayed stuck in the house instead of exploring outside. There is always something to write about, even in something that may seem ordinary. I was so caught up in my depressing emotions, low self-esteem and distracted by what I was told to do that I didn’t take time to just be in the moment and take it all in. I didn’t take time to get to know myself as much, who I am and my own body. I’ve had a few people to show me that directly, but I had to come to it mostly by myself. I am only now with in the past few years doing that and it has helped me a lot.

  Here is one poem I wrote recently for the NaPoWriMo writing challenge:

  Taboo Women

Inspired by Lucille Clifton and Sheena LaShay

No time for the boys who predate with their eyes, chase us around to put rings on our fingers. What we want is the entire embrace

of history’s memory around us. Not the placid prison of kinship, not the hours spent in front of a stove reflecting the bitterness of kale;

Our destiny is not the dowry for the richness of other lives. We will hold back the treasure for ourselves and

lock them from the boys who treat us an nothing more than a bedpot to throw their desires into and to throw ours away.  This is for the black

women whose womanhood is always a question. This is for the black dahlias whose bodies are ripped apart and smiles are demanded. Hand

us back our voices instead, the mysteries of our bodies.  We will minute the stories of our times.  We will remember and speak our truths even with the knife

of silence threatened at our throats. Even with the bullet ready to pierce the spine

of the lost bible of our heretical emotions. They are not enough to cure the appetite

of women whose names were burned, whose names were drowned everywhere.

"A Lesson in 'The Returning and Then Letting Go,' A Poem by Sherese Francis," in Literary Manhattan

  We always meet somewhere:

  Coincidences open doors

between you and me;

the excited pull

forms a hug

in Harlem—as if the Studio Museum

hangs us like Pruitt’s Women;

we are women divinely entwined

with gold rings around

the locks of our hair;

we hear each other

like crossed strings

on fate’s fingers.

  The Breslin, downtown:

we are synced in blood

falling on the same day, craving

the caramel popcorn on our fingers,

the lamb

burgers with chips that

we will not finish;

beginning again is too raw;

our minds are flying

in different

directions

and yet somehow

we are still pinned

here.

  How do I hold onto

a presence that

flickers;

who was not, now is, and

will be no longer;

in my life, she is an

approximation of the same

person I met, and she will

soon to be closer home

while I stay up here

waiting for the city

to bring her back

in the heat of summer.

  “So, how are you?”

http://www.literarymanhattan.org/a-lesson-in-the-returning-and-then-letting-go-a-poem/

Follow Sherese:

Futuristicallyancient.com

Afutureancient.tumblr.com

Twitter: afutureancient

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Les Femmes Folles is a completely volunteer run organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art with the online journal, anthologies, books, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins.  LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012 and 2013, available on blurb.com,(get 15% your blurb purchase using code MAYDAYS expires 5/27/14) including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

(Win a FREE LFF Book!: Intimates & Fools, Les Femmes Folles Books’ Photo contest 2014!Details on the submissions page: http://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/callforart-writing)