Spark Spotlight Writer Khalisa Rae
Originally from the small town of Gary, Indiana, Khalisa is an award-winning poet, author, activist and culture journalist based in Durham, North Carolina. She is the co-founder of Poet.she (Greensboro), the Invisibility Project, and Athenian Press-QPOC writer’s collective, resource center, and bookstore in Wilmington, NC. Khalisa’s passion is in uplifting women and youth and championing for Black queer narratives.
1. How did you become interested in writing?
I’ve always been interested in the written word. My mom says I’ve been writing since I was 6 or 7 years old. I used to make up fictional, wild stories about girls like me. As a girl of color in a little town in Indiana, I wanted to see myself reflected. I would create stories about young girls going on adventures. I was always in love with performance and acting. I would make up stories or little movies, or little synopsis of novels. I always knew I wanted to tell stories in whatever genre or medium I chose.
2. What medium of writing do you enjoy the most?
I started telling fiction stories. As I got older, I fell in love with poetry. Poetry allows you to do things that are whimsical and fun. I am a trifecta – I am a journalist, a poet, and now, I’m writing novels. I think I am moving out of the realm of needing to write poetry all the time but I love studying it and listening to it.
3. Where do you find your inspiration as a writer?
Right now, my inspiration comes from the world around me and what I feel like is lacking, what I want to personally see, and where I feel like the media is doing black women a disservice. I try to write in the gap of where I don’t see myself represented. My community inspires me. I am blessed to be a part of a beautiful writing and poetry community. Learning about peoples’ stories – challenges that they are overcoming, successes, victories, etc. This could be social-justice related issues, or folks who are experiencing homelessness around me, which is a major problem in my city. Those stories deserve to get told. I am in a season where I am inspired to tell stories of black and brown and queer people who deserve to be seen.
4. What is the most rewarding part of what you do?
Being able to bring stories that are underrepresented to life and being able to create narratives that make me feel appreciated, valued and seen. On a personal level, one of the most rewarding things is that it is cathartic to be able to unload things. I think poetry affords you the opportunity to unpack a lot of “life things.” Also, when you’re writing books, you get to be in conversations with other people. It’s a cool “call and response” that happens.
5. What inspires creativity in your writing?
My peers inspire me to be more creative, and they push me beyond my comfort zone. Steel sharpens steel. Being around people who are very talented, having mentors who are famous authors, and being able to shoot for a goal in a non-competitive way. Healthy peer-to-peer inspiration. What also inspires me is having a husband who is a poet and artist. Also, being involved in such a large artistic community really inspires me to write more, to do better. Being part of writing groups really helps.
6. How did you know you wanted to become a writer?
There was a moment that happened in college. One of the reasons I left the college I was attending was because it was incredibly racist. I learned about the history of the race massacre that happened in Wilmington in 1898. Their bodies were thrown into the river. I left Wilmington because I sunk into a very deep depression while I was there. I think that everything happens for a reason. It was destiny that I was supposed to start my writing career in lieu of what happened. So, I transferred to North Carolina A&T University. I did a brief student exchange at UNCG where I was cast in many plays. There, I did a poem, and a professor who was the director of the department said, “I should be doing this for the rest of my life.” The day I graduated, I had a meeting with the other poets in my class, and we started one of Greensboro’s women’s poetry nonprofit called “Poet SHE Performing Arts.” 3 or 4 years in, we all split and decided to do our own independent writing careers. Then we lost our funding. We all decided to go forth on our own creative careers, and we’re all professional artists now.
7. What is the name of your new novel?
Unlearning Eden, a novel in verse. It’s funny because I said I was going to stop writing poetry, but this novel is comprised of lyric stories. My book is a story about a little girl named Gabby who grows up in a really conservative, black southern home, but she is queer and she is questioning things. She can’t tell anybody. She transfers schools and realizes education is not what she is passionate about. She’s passionate about visual arts. She meets a non-binary student who becomes her best friend. It’s about freedom, opening your eyes, and being free to be you and who you are.
8. What are your upcoming projects?
My husband and I are building the Triangle’s first All-Black Southern Writers Conference. The inaugural year is this November. We are currently in the fundraising stage. The name of the project is Griot and Grey Owl. “Griot” is the traditional tribal name for a person who tells stories. “Grey Owl” is like a plant that is native to this area that is used for herbal tinctures. Another thing we learned is that it’s a bush that grows really wide, a sentiment which reflects our goals for this project.
To learn more about Khalisa Rae and her work, visit www.khalisarae.com
