When writer Jewelle Gomez first moved to New York City in 1977, she met an extremely friendly white-haired woman in her apartment building elevator. After exchanging pleasantries, the woman asked Gomez a few questions.
“I’m a poet,” Gomez recalls telling her.
“Will I have read you?” her neighbor asked.
“Oh, no, I haven’t been published,” Gomez replied.
After hearing this, the woman’s demeanor changed and she scowled and became slightly agitated. “Don’t wait for them,” she implored. “Do it yourself. Find someone who does printing and put a chapbook together.”…
Now 67, she is thrilled by The Gilda Stories comeback — the book was reissued in April 2016 by City Lights Books — and the extensive book tour that is taking her to cities across the US.
By Eleanor J. Bader – Full Story at Truth-Out