Thinking deeply, dreaming imaginatively, reading critically, reflecting incisively and then writing compellingly is the very essence of what it means to give power to voice. Prairie View A&M University aims to educate its students to become change leaders in an increasingly more diverse, globally interconnected world. Students will be inspired to uncover their hidden talents and to hone their skills as they learn to craft the unique characteristics of various literary genres, comprehend the expectations of the publishing process and benefit from the resources available in a competitive yet supportive writers’ world.

Led by Provost Emerita and Professor E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith and organizationally housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Program features an annual Writer-in-Residence who will offer public readings, master classes, lectures, class visitations and critiques of students’ works. There will come summer writing workshops, informal book discussions with prominent authors, a scholarship program, contests and, eventually, a full curriculum supporting a degree program in creative writing and other linguistic expression. In keeping with the University’s land grant mission, the University will include an outreach component wherein area high schools and elementary schools will become Toni Morrison Writing Program partners. A most prominent partner to the Toni Morrison Writing Program is the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, thus fostering exploration of social justice from the perspective of literature, public policy, entertainment, environmental science, athletics, health and other areas.

The Toni Morrison Writing Program was made possible via a substantial gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in early 2021. Scott was Morrison’s student during her time at Princeton and attributes much of her development as an author to Morrison’s mentorship.

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photo credit Tyson Horne
Exclusive

Tayari Jones Writer-in-Residence

New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage. Published in 2018, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries.

Jones, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016.

Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

“I don’t mind expressing my opinions and speaking out against injustice. I would be doing this even if I wasn’t a writer. I grew up in a household that believed in social justice.  I have always understood myself as having an obligation to stand on the side of the silenced, the oppressed, and the mistreated.”

 —Tayari Jones

Over the course of her award-winning career, Tayari Jones’s novels and essays have explored the vagaries of birth and fate, the bitterness of injustice, and the persistent power of love. With her most recent novel, the instant New York Times bestseller An American Marriage, she “has emerged as one of the most important voices of her generation” (Essence).

In this “moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple” (Barack Obama, on selecting the novel for his summer reading list), Jones introduces us to Celestial and Roy, a newlywed couple standing on the threshold of the American Dream. When Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, their lives implode. And when his conviction is overturned five years later, both must navigate the unimaginable fallout of their enforced estrangement.

“It’s among Tayari’s many gifts that she can touch us soul to soul with her words.”

 —Oprah Winfrey

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Writer-In-Residence Master Class by Tayari Jones

Established in 2020, the Toni Morrison Writing Program invites prominent writers of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, play writing, hip hop, screen writing, et cetera to Prairie View A&M University to share their craft with students.  This rich opportunity gives students a chance to develop their most powerful selves and voices through the intelligent, skillful, and impactful use of the word—namely, the written word. Master classes taught by the writer-in-residence hone students’ skills and nurture their creativity.

The three Master Classes are set for September, October, and February. Each one is a non-credit bearing session of approximately two hours, including instruction and time for individual and small group engagement. A writer-in-residence reviews and responds to students’ original writing, discusses publishing strategies, and offers advice on entering careers as writers.

The first Master Class with Tayari Jones, the 2024-2025 Toni Morrison Writer-In-Residence, will be held at 3:30 P.M., Thursday, September 19, 2024 in the CITE Training Center, Coleman Library, 3^rd Floor. The session will be available via Zoom and in-person (hybrid).

Tayari Jones has authored several books including An American Marriage which was an Oprah Book Club Selection.   Before coming to her current position as Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University, she was Andrew Dickson White Professor at Cornell University.   A mentee of Oprah Winfrey, Ms. Jones has garnered an impressive amount of respect and attention as a writer, speaker, and scholar.

Interested?  Very interested?  Space is limited so apply immediately so your application can be reviewed without delay. Applications are due by September 13, 5:00 p.m.  You will be notified of your acceptance and the logistics for the Master Class session by email by September 16.

Complete the Application for the Writer-in-Residence Master Class by Tayari Jones below. If you need assistance, please contact Dr. Teta Banks at tvbanks@pvamu.edu, Dr.Joanna Sanders Mann at jsmann@pvamu.edu, or Dr. Glenn Shaheen at glshaheen@pvamu.edu.

Best wishes!

Writing Contest Application

3rd Annual Creative Writing Contest

This contest is open to graduating high school seniors only!

Write your original poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction. Write at least four (4) pages and no more than eight (8) pages. Poetry may be single- spaced. Fiction and creative non-fiction must be double-spaced. Be sure the writing is your own. You may enter in one, two, or three categories. However, if you win in more than one, you will be awarded for the category which carries the highest prize.

What about college scholarships?

One- half of the scholarship amount won will be disbursed in the Fall Semester of 2024 and one-half will be disbursed in the Spring Semester 2025.

PVAMU CONTACTS

Dr. Glenn Shaheen : glshaheen@pvamu.edu
Dr. E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith : ejthomas-smith@pvamu.edu
All entries must be submitted online

Writing Contest Application

About Toni Morrison

Reading what the late Toni Morrison wrote whether it is her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in her thirties or her phenomenal Beloved which affirmed her artistry and led to her winning the Pulitzer Prize reveals the power of writing as documentation of life in all of its dimensions. Having produced a treasure trove of notable works and explored various literary genres, Toni Morrison became the first Black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. She also was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and numerous other awards. Her discipline, persistence and creativity seem to have been influenced by a constellation of factors among which were her years engaging with civil rights activists, working as an editor, forming lifelong friendships, being a mother to two sons, teaching at Princeton University and influencing generations of future writers.

In Toni Morrison: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations, Nikki Giovanni reflects on a long telephone conversation she had with Ms. Morrison about some profound challenges in her life. She said Toni’s words were, “Write. That’s all you can do. Write.” Ms. Giovanni goes on to say that despite the title of that book, there will never be a last interview with Toni Morrison for “Her books live and talk to us. She could have said Read. But she said Write. And she is Right.”

As Oprah Winfrey once stated about Toni Morrison, “She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truth-teller. She was a magician with language, who understood the power of words. She used them to roil us, to wake us, to educate us and help us grapple with our deepest wounds and try to comprehend them.”

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Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith
Program Director

Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith, provost emerita and professor of higher education, serves as the program director of the Toni Morrison Writing Program. Prior to serving as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Prairie View A&M University for nearly two decades, she gained extensive experience in teaching English, coaching debate and training students in forensic competition. She has inspired generations of high school and college students with a love for literature and language. Her administrative roles included service as Head, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Associate Provost, and Director of Title III. It was during her tenure as provost that the decade spanning the mid-nineties to mid-2000s became the decade of the most extensive program development at PVAMU including the advancement to doctoral level program offerings. For more than four decades, Dr. Thomas-Smith has led the University in planning and accreditation which are areas aligned with her specialties acquired at Washington State University where she earned her doctorate. She has held leadership roles in state and national commissions such as the national Voluntary System of Accountability and the Texas Assessment of Skills Program. She is on the executive editorial board of the 155 year-old Negro Educational Review journal and is a sought after speaker and mentor in the K-12 arena and in area community service entities. Dr. Thomas-Smith has received prestigious awards for her active University and community service and support. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee University and her masters at New Mexico Highlands University. In 1999, the latter recognized her as a distinguished alumna.

Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith
Provost Emerita and Professor
Director, Toni Morrison Writing Program
Prairie View A&M University
P.O. Box 519; Mail Stop 1040
Prairie View, Texas 77446

Email: ejthomas-smith@pvamu.edu

Phone: (936) 261-2217