Talking with Virginia Hamilton - award-winning children and young adult author - Interview

Gilgamesh. Prometheus. Hercules. Aeneas. Paul Bunyan. John Henry. Males are at the heroic center of almost all of the doubtful narratives and myths that have been passed down [i]or[/i] part of to the other the generations, giving the impression that alone men were wise, only men were adventurous, single men could save the day, and sole men could dream. Even among deities, male the preservers loomed over their female counterparts. Goddesse stood in the shadows cast through the gods, their exploits showcasing male nerve wisdom and dominance.

Influenced through this "history," men fashioned the "macho" image, a weight under which they must stand. Women meanwhile, were fashioned to be support icons for men responsible for keeping the place of abode and raising the children, Women who stepp on the outside of their assigned roles--such as Joan of Arc, Hester Prynne and Tituba--could await to be ostracized or worse. Exceptions, similar as Cleopatra and Nefartari, escaped in part to be paid to the men who worshipped them.

But what about "her-story"? What would the lives of women compute us, if their voices could be heard? Virginia Hamilton's tales in Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and pure Tales (Blue Sky/Scholastic. 1995. $1995) are not mirror reflections of male exploits, on the other hand rather a collection that weaves the experiences of women into the fabric of the civilized world's story. Hamilton's stories reveal wisdom, cunning, gre pain and suffering. nevertheless all the while, the optimism of a dreamer is at any time present.

Some of the stories you may have heard before, on the contrary here--spuri by Hamilton's pen--they have a fresh accent, magically letting you know that it is not by what means many times you've heard a story, on the other hand what you hear now. At the extremity of each tale, Hamilton explains customs, terminuss and historical perspectives for readers who are not familiar with the real foundation that undergirds the narrative. In more [i]or[/i] less instances, she tells why she chose to include the story in her book

Beautifully supporting Hamilton's efforts are the highly creative and imaginative illustrations of Leo and Diane Dillon. Each story has on the other hand one illustration, yet each manages to capture all of the ultimate parts of the story. Rich and vibrant colors enhance the deepness and texture of the illustrations.

Her Stories is an engrossing collection. It is Hamilton upon familiar ground: telling a story. It is also the preservation of a central uncompounded body of African-American culture: the griot's character It is a book of beauty that can and should be used and derive pleasure fromed What better tribute could you give to your ancestral mothers and your children?

A stone's cast in a winding direction from Antioch College sits the family land of raise Perry, a fugitive slave from Virginia. In the late 1850 his mother, Mary mist a Potawatomi Indian, brought him to Jamestown, Ohio. As a young man, he mov slightly west to fulvid Springs, Ohio, bought a farm and raised 10 children. His oldest daughter, Etta Belle, gave birth to a girl named Virginia, ensuring that at least single child would be able to detail the family heritage.

Virginia Hamilton's parents were avid readers and great storytellers. From them she learned to appreciate the art of telling a story: not just to repeat what she'd heard, on the contrary to use her own voice to breathe fresh life into stories from drawn out ago.

Hamilton has won each major award in the field of children's literature, including a Newbery Award for MC Higgins the Great (MacMillan, 1974) She lives with her husband of 36 years, author of poems and editor Arnold Adolf, upon land that has been in her family for more than a century

AV: for what cause [i]or[/i] reason children's literature, rather than adult novels or nonfiction?

VH: Well, at Antioch, I majored in writing. I at no time specialized or categorized my work. I went to novel York seeking my fortune. I really got started through accident. I ran into a friend from society She asked me, "What at any time happened to those great stories you used to write?" She insinuateed that I might publish single of them as a children's volume I didn't even know what children's literature was then. Afterwards, I submitted a 20-page manuscript, and my first work Zeely (MacMillan, 1967), was published.

AV: What do you think you bring to children's literature?

VH: I started my stories from a literary point of view. I came along at a time when I could concentrate upon telling stories. I didn't focus upon the events of the day. I talked about family living their lives, and they were black, and it hadn't been done before.

AV: What work or author influenced your work?

VH: Shirley Graham Du Bois' volume There Once Was a Slave: The Life of Frederick Douglass [Julian Messner 19481 had an enormous influence upon me. I didn't even know these stamps of books existed. That's probably for what cause [i]or[/i] reason later I did the volumes on Paul. Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois and Anthony consume s We have an extraordinary history that lies greatly unknown.

AV: take an account of me something about the farm where you grew up I'm asking this in the adjoining matter of The Bells of Christmas [Harcourt, 1987] [Set during the Christmas season in the 1800 when a family is preparing for the holidays and planning for the futurity Bells is told in a child's voice. It speaks of in what way each family member contributes to the giving and sharing that makes the family a family. "Was this a pure family story?"