07/15/2011 Inspirations Anthony Grooms

Inspirations:  Anthony Grooms

Anthony Grooms believes in what he writes.  I’m told there are two standard rules for writing; one of which is “Read! Read! Read!” and the other is “Write what you know.” With five brothers and sisters “Tony” found himself, as a 12-year-old, in the middle of a household inclusive of parents who dared not only to dream for a

better education for their children, but also had a plan to implement one.  It began with enrolling their son in the Freedom of Choice program. And, in short, changed the life of this young boy forever.  We, as readers, continue to reap the benefits of the experiences and perseverance of Anthony Grooms in that life-changing experience. 

As a two-time recipient of the Lillian Smith Award ( http://bit.ly/nFCYan). Tony Grooms is best-known for his published works entitled Trouble No More and Bombingham.When I asked him how it felt to be a recipient for this award his humble reply was, “I felt very honored to receive an award named for Lillian Smith. I hold her as a model for the writer of conscience – one whose vision has made the South a more just place. To have been given the award twice means two times the gratitude and three times the honor.”

Serving as the Professor of Creative Writing and Interim Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies Department for Kennesaw State University, Grooms knows how to hold an audience’s attention. The collection of short stores in Trouble No More, first published in 1995, is one that demonstrates how a single idea of equality for everyone manifested itself in times of painful growth of black Americans during the oppressive Jim Crow years. From the first story of Uncle Beasley’s Courtship to the last, Rocket 88, the continuing thread of their struggle reminds the reader of the perceptions of what “equality” really was on both sides of the black and white fence. Trouble No More was also named the 2006 Book All Georgia Reads by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Bombingham takes us on a righteous journey with Walter Burke, also known as “Tibbs” who is the son of a middle-class black family. Sorting out the effects of senseless bombing responses to the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama coinciding with his mandated duty as an American soldier in the Viet Nam War, Tibbs is confronted with ideals instilled in him by both his family and the church.  Finding the balance between a conscientious struggle for equality and the conflicting obligation of fighting in an unwinnable war, at a time when black people weren’t even sure their votes were counted, proves to be a process that is well worth the reader’s time. As a privileged child who spent her summers in the Birmingham bedroom-community of Shades Mountain, it comes as no surprise to me that Bombingham was awarded the 2002 Lillian Smith award for Fiction.

Mr. Grooms believes that writers are both born and made. With an inherent “inclination toward language and narrative, and through disciplined learning we make ourselves good crafters.” He advises writers of “conscience and art” to “seek the communion of our kind” identifying them at their “writing desks, in the classroom or in the cancer ward. We are among the serious folk in the serious places of the world.”  He also urges them to “seek out our companionship and to learn from us how to live and write well.”  To watch and listen to Tony on the subject of experimentation of writing, please visit:  http://bit.ly/nIxDNN

On the merits of paid writing competitions, he states: “It is a mark of the low esteem in which literary writing, especially poetry and short fiction, are held by our society that we submit to paid literary competitions. I understand that such competitions are both a way to vet and to debut new writers by what are resource-poor publishing houses. But that literary publishers – the institutions that give voice to our cultural values and national aspirations – are so capital poor, would be, one would think the great shame of a wealthy nation.  It is tantamount to submitting great works to a publishing lottery, a gamble that ensures many worthy works will lose – and yet, it has always been the case, since the beginning of American literary writing. Even before the paid competition became the routine, our publishing had a narrow gate. How many Faulkners or Wrights or Weltys have gone to their graves undiscovered, we shall never know.”  In his continuing effort to encourage writers; however, his observations include: “We have more resources available to us than writers of any time in history – not only paid competitions, but the internet, and on-demand publishing. Use them!  But, also keep in mind that our small press institutions would be less poor, if we also purchased literary books and otherwise supported these presses we hope so dearly to win recognition from.” 

Anthony Grooms is in the position to influence many potential authors in the coming years.  When I asked him why he writes, he gave me several answers. He used words like “fun,” “sense of satisfaction” and “divertissement from the daily grind,” and then summed it up with the following statement: “When young, I wanted fame, riches and to incite social revolution. These days, it is enough to write – dream as I might – and know the blessed privilege of being able to do both.”     Makes sense to me! 

For more:  anthonygrooms.com