"My Characters Are Teaching Me to Be Strong": An Interview with Tananarive Due

Abstract

Tananarive Due, is originally from Tallahassee, Florida, and now resides in Southern California. She earned a BS in journalism from Northwestern University and an MA in English with an emphasis on Nigerian literature from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. She has taught classes, seminars, and workshops at Michigan State University, the University of Miami, and Cleveland State University. As she publishes novels from her home on the West Coast, she continues to write for The Miami Herald. Due joins Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, Phyllis Alesia Perry, Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Jewelle Gomez, Steven Barnes, Charles Johnson, Toni Cade Bambara, and Maryse Conde in interpreting themes and experiences from the African Diaspora to write speculative fiction. Due questions the success of a middle class African American family as they struggle with the historical past, confront ancestral ties to Africa, and face-off against a convicted stalker and killer in The Between (1995). Her second novel is part of an ongoing trilogy that begins with My Soul to Keep (1998), followed by The Living Blood (2001), and ends with a forthcoming novel. The first novel traces the multiple timelines of the life of Dawit, an immortal who has lived 400 years in various parts of the world. In present-day Florida, Dawit transforms himself into David Wolde, professor of jazz, husband to mortal Jessica Jacobs, and father to their mortal Kira. Throughout the trilogy Due explores the tensions between God and being god, between mortality and immortality, and between morality and immorality. The Horror Writers Association's nominated two of her novels for Bram Stoker Awards: The Between for Superior Achievement in a First Novel and My Soul to Keep for the best novel award. The Black Rose (2000) is a historical novel that remains true to Due's literary roots of historical theme. The Alex Haley estate provided Due with Haley's notes on the life of Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919), and invited her to complete the biographical novel about this first African American woman millionaire. Walker's life began in poverty in Louisiana and ended with a successful cosmetics empire that catered to the hair and beauty needs of African American women. As a millionaire, Walker served her community through philanthropy and civil rights initiatives. The NAACP nominated The Black Rose for its Image Award in 2001. Due continues to explore historical and literary genres through the personal memoir, penning with her mother Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights (2002). Together they chronicle their experiences during the 1960s. This interview was conducted in an online chat room with corresponding transcripts on August 31 and September 1, 2002, between Los Angeles, California, and Longview, Washington. DG: How do you identify, if at all, with the literary genres of traditional speculative fiction primarily by and about white men? TD: I have to confess, I had read very little speculative fiction of any type when I began writing The Between. I was basically trained in a literary writing program at Northwestern University, where speculative fiction was not a part of our course of study. We read Raymond Carver and Joyce Carol Oates, for example. I remember telling my class that my favorite authors were Toni Morrison and Stephen King. I got looks of approval when I mentioned Toni Morrison, and incredulous looks when I mentioned Stephen King. So I figured out right away that I would have to keep my love of horror to myself. I had not read any Octavia E. Butler, for example, before I was in college or grad school. DG: You've mentioned a few authors already. How did they along with others influence your writing, and why? TD: That's a very, very tough question. I would say my influences are, in no particular order, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, Gloria Naylor, Alice Walker, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Octavia E. …