November 16, 2007
Alike, Not Alike
The lovely and amazing Tayari Jones writes about attending the National Book Awards ceremony, where she was mistaken for other African-American nominees:
While at the National Book Awards, people kept congratulating me on my nomination. Some people complimented me on my beautiful reading. When I didn't win, a couple of really nice folks said they had been pulling for me, and certainly I'll get it next time. I was gracious, of course. But here's the thing: I wasn't up for an award! They had me confused with one of the following people: Edwidge Danticat-- who was nominated for "Brother, I'm Dying." or maybe M. Sindy Felin, who was nominated for "Touching Snow" or maybe Asali Solomon who read in the 5 Under 35 event. The picture at the left is me and Asali. All black people don't look alike but we sorta do.This reminded me of a very funny moment at the 2006 Bread Loaf Writers' conference. The talented novelist Emily Raboteau read a non-fiction piece about a visit to Israel and being stopped and searched at the airport because she was mistaken for an Arab. (Here's an excerpt.) The next day, the faculty and fellows volunteered to serve lunch to the attendees, so I was in the kitchen waiting for an order for my table when a very famous poet, also getting food for his table, approached me and said how much he loved my reading. He went on and on about how great it was. "That was Emily," I said. "My reading's tomorrow."
So, do we look alike?
posted by Laila Lalami at 12:00 AM
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