Get to know me

Where you might know me from

Nov 18, 2024

Hi friends, it’s me again. This newsletter is a bit of a continuation of my last. Whereas the last newsletter was sharing more about my work and the issues it currently pertains to, I wanted to share a bit more about myself in this one.

What was my path to publishing?

I didn't see a clear path to become an artist and a writer but I kept picking at it for years making resolutions and shooting my shot. I know there are easier ways, but I threw a lot at the wall and saw what stuck (who accepted me to this residency, that fellowship, picked by that editor). Essentially, this was pretty hard (like a 10+ year long kind of hard) and I wish it wasn't. I want to make it less hard for some of you and maybe sharing what I learned will help. I will be writing about the path I took, the pros and cons, and what I might have done differently. You’re free to invite me to talk with your class, workshop, organization, or a 1:1 talk about writer paths. I was just at Miami University and I'll be at the University of Rochester next year.

How did I decide to start this newsletter?

For real, I had reached the limits of my young immigrant high achiever girl bossing life in a nonprofit. I had hit the burnout everyone talked about. I sent emails at 3 am and pushed my chronically ill body and mind through compassion fatigue and the glass cliff. But I finally had all my bills on auto pay and a steadily building 401K. My life up till that point was dominated by high levels of clarity and productivity only to crash later. My physical body couldn't deal with the "boom and bust," of it all. After a trip to the emergency room, my body told me to stop. I quit my job and stepped away from full-time work and floundered for a bit. Hurling my body through space and time to get through adjuncting, unstable freelance gigs, pondering cleaning out my car to join the Instacart baddies. For once, all I had were “concepts of a plan,” different from the musings on my 5-year goals that overtook my half-full collection of planners. For now, I'd chosen a life with more precarity because it afforded me more time to rest. But as my body stopped reacting and started processing, I had new clarity on a path I wanted to carve for myself. Part of this is this newsletter.

Where have I seen you before?
I've written for some of your favorite literary spaces, Electric Lit, The Rumpus, Vol 1. Brooklyn, Nat. Brut, and others, or just talking with other writers online in #Binders groups.

I'm also Co-Designer of the award-winning public humanities, participatory theater, and oral history archive, The Black American Tree Project. It uses the Black family as a jumping point to discuss traumatic events and intergenerational healing. What happens to the family when a son is taken by police? How would that police figure articulate their political and social stance? The work aims to focus on Black grief amidst the individual, historical, and systemic, barriers to interacting with everyday systems (healthcare, law enforcement, lack of fair housing practices, and more).

The communities I am a part of

I’ve been hustling the last few years and was lucky to join the Tin House Writers Workshop, Voices of Our Nation, and Lambda Literary Retreat alumni. I also have had my work supported by the Tyler School of Art, Ragdale Foundation, Anderson Center on Tower View, the Ohio Arts Council, and Ohio Humanities.

I am a proud women's college graduate of Smith College. I grew up in Tucson, AZ but have been in the Midwest for almost 10 years. I did my MFA at Miami University in Ohio and currently, I’m a Presidential Fellow in the PhD in English at the University of Cincinnati.

Also, I once held the same Black job as Michelle Obama 💅🏾💪🏾 @PublicAllies.

I’m trying something new

I'm also the Founder and Principal of Diba.Studio, named after my great-grandmother, Ifediba Keshi. This is a new endeavor and I'm being honest about trying, finding, and shaping a new container for my skills. As a social impact professional, I've worked with large philanthropy foundations and national nonprofits on leadership development, participatory grantmaking, intergroup dialogue, equitable human resources, and arts-based research. As a Teaching Artist, I’m trained by the Unicorn Authors Club in writing coaching, especially for BIPOC writers. I am not a DEI influencer, I'm someone who has studied how to be a better person to the most marginalized and wants to share that with other people and believes that my knowledge has value.

So why should you be here?

I did one of those "algorithm please send me ___" posts and I only have 11 likes, these are the things I complain about in 2024 and it's surreal being anxious sometimes. But I'll share it here in case it resonates with you:

It's my hope and aim to have my writing resonate with people who might fall into these groups:

publishing industry folks
literary writers coming from MFAs or chapbooks who want to publish with an indie press
who wants to learn from another writer publicly learning publicity and marketing
identifies with and/or appreciates writing about mental health for Black women, immigrants, and children of immigrants
is interested in learning about black women writers, Black feminist thought, diasporic longing,
is interested in cultural and art critique
or anyone who wants to follow this journey of publishing a first book! and who wants to follow along my creative path and see if takes you somewhere

So tell me about you?

The Gloomy Girl Variety Show with Freda Epum

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