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About Zetta Elliott
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Blog postIt’s National Poetry Month and I’m writing a poem a day until the end of April. Some days I feel like I don’t have anything to say but spring always promises and delivers birds, blossoms, and beauty in unexpected places so there’s plenty of inspiration to be found outdoors. This morning I shared my writing process with students at Messiah University; their professor asked me to demonstrate how to learn from the poems in OLIO by Tyehimba Jess and I found unexpected inspiration for my expe
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Blog postI’m going to give up sweets for the month of April! I thoroughly enjoyed my tea party last week and truly felt like I’d earned it after meeting three deadlines in five days. But I need to find a reward that doesn’t involve sugar…I priced trips to Glasgow and Copenhagen over the weekend, thinking that might make a nice birthday gift. But right now there are lengthy quarantine requirements in place and I only want to visit for three or four days. It’s hard to make plans during a pandemic and we
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Blog postI’ve always had a magpie eye. Anything sparkly or delicate would catch my eye and I would (mostly) resist the urge to squirrel the item away in my room. I did once steal a piece of glass that dangled from my friend’s lamp; if I held it up to the light, I could see a rainbow and at the age of seven, nothing seemed more magical than that. Now, as an adult, I have a lamp covered in tiny crystals and it brings me just as much joy. Yesterday was the memorial for my cousin and I wore the Swarovski
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Blog postA poet friend told me last month that she was carving out more room in her life for writing—“spaciousness” was the term she used and it immediately resonated with me. I know most people would look at my calendar and think I have plenty of time to myself; I started March with 8 gigs and now I’m up to 10, which is my limit. Really—I mean it. I’ve got two Zoom-free days this weekend and it’s such a delicious feeling to wake without any anxiety about what’s to come. This week I have a few gigs an
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Blog postPBS is the crutch that’s helping me limp along to the end of this month. Today I’m rewatching The Black Church with Skip Gates and I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Soul! I had nine presentations last week; I only had three this week but there were lots of meetings and deadlines to fill up my days. I’ve met two so there’s just one left. I’m hoping I can crank out four more poems this weekend. I took two lakefront walks with friends and that lifted my spirits because the sun’s been out almost ever
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Blog postI only lived in Lancaster for a year but in that time I managed to connect with a few schools and community organizations. The pandemic limited what I could do in my last months in PA but when ROOTS RUN DEEP was finally ready, I sent a copy to Valerie Pritchett at ABC27. She featured me for the station’s 2020 Black History Month special and she’s kindly done it again for 2021. You can see the interview here.
It’s snowing—again!—but I made it to the post office and my new snow pan -
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Blog postI stopped napping over a year ago but my afternoon naps are making a comeback in 2021. My weeks feel so full and that’s partly my fault—I’m still saying “yes” to too many requests—but it’s also Black History Month, and I thought I’d have time to teach and give keynotes and visit schools virtually because my deadlines were LAST month. I met all three but, of course, that doesn’t mean I’m done; my editors circle back needing more poems, more revisions, more more. By the time I reach 3pm, I’m ou
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Blog postIt’s still snowing here in Evanston. I went out earlier today to deliver a birthday gift to Cozbi. She’s still reeling from winning *four* awards yesterday for her two beautiful books EXQUISITE and ME & MAMA! Award days can be difficult and I usually skip the ceremony and avoid social media for a while. Often the same few people win the same few awards, year after year, but when someone so deserving finally has their work recognized—you can’t help but celebrate with and for them. Cozbi is
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Blog postOn Saturday morning I watched Herself and when it ended, I did an online search for “how to move to Scotland.” The film is set in Ireland, but it motivated me to work on my five-year plan. Over the holidays I scribbled a few statements down, all starting with “What if…?” But yesterday I made actual statements: “By 2026, I will have a home abroad.” I don’t have many goals, just half a dozen right now, but having clear goals makes it easier to complete specific actions that will set me on
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Blog post2020 is on its way out and I’m trying to clear my plate. I had hoped to publish this picture book back in February but the illustrator wasn’t done and then the pandemic changed everything…then I moved to IL and now I’m waiting on the final proof so I can finally hit “publish.” It’s an imperfect book—I gave up on my original vision a long time ago and now it just needs to land in the hands of kids in Central PA. I found myself thinking about my own childhood and introduction to Black history;
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