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"When you dedicate yourself to something with your whole
heart, the
universe conspires to see that you get it."
- Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones was born in downtown Atlanta, Georgia in 1970. She lived in
Georgia for most of her life and spent one year in Nigeria. Tayari graduated
from Spelman College in 1991, then attended the University of Iowa to pursue
a Ph.D. in English. She obtained her masters degree and decided to move to Texas
and teach developmental reading. Known for encouraging her students to follow
their dreams, Tayari began to take her own advice, and after three years of
teaching, she went back to graduate school. Tayari decided to study
creative writing instead of English. One of her favorite authors, Jewell Parker
Rhodes, encouraged her to attend Arizona State University to pursue a Master
of Fine Arts in fiction writing. It was there that Tayari wrote her masters
thesis, Leaving Atlanta, a novel based on her experiences during the
Atlanta Child Murders. The novel was published in 2002, and has since received
critical acclaim. Tayari has received the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for debut
fiction, an Artist Fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Gerald
Greund Fellowship from the MacDowell Colony, in addition to many other honors
and awards.
Leaving Atlanta is a novel about
the Atlanta Child Murders of the early 1980's. The story is told from the perspectives
of three children who were directly affected by the murders. It was the end
of summer, a summer during a two-year nightmare. African American children were
being kidnapped, and twenty-nine would be murdered by the end of 1981. Three
children, Tasha Baxter, Rodney Green, and Octavia Harrison, were introduced
to a back-to-school season that included safety lessons, indoor recess, and
living with the crippling fear that they could be the next victims and there
was very little anyone could do about it. Leaving Atlanta is a novel
about fear and love, both of parents who want to protect their children, and
children who find they cannot protect each other.
L-I-N-K-E-D: Most writers write from the third person or first person, and rarely second-person point of view. Why did you decide to write in all three perspectives?
JONES: I tend to find the point of view that best suits my characters. For the
opening of the novel, "Magic Words," I thought that it would be best
to tell Tasha's story from third person since she isn't really mature enough
to give the story in her own words. Also, I needed a larger perspective for
the very beginning, in order to set the stage for what was to come. As for Rodney
Green, the second person was ideal for such an introverted character. In addition,
the second person gave me the opportunity to use an elevated diction which gave
chances for humor but also captured the irony between the richness and complexity
of children's lives and their station in society. And finally, I let Octavia
have a first-person narrative because she has the personality and voice to tell
a larger story. Also, I liked the idea of the person who is talked about in
the rest of the novel, finally having her say.
L-I-N-K-E-D: How did you decide to write yourself into your book? What was your
motive behind that tactic?
JONES: I wrote myself into the story because I feel like I was a witness the
event described. People often ask me if Leaving Atlanta is autobiographical,
but really it is not. I was a bystander, an observer, a critic, just as is my
namesake character in the book.
L-I-N-K-E-D: What kind of research did you do for the story?
JONES: I read almost all the newspaper articles for 1979. This gave me an
idea of how to conceptualize my memories. I know a lot more than my characters
do. But unfortunately, only a small bit of the research is ever evident in the
finished work.
L-I-N-K-E-D: What aspects of your Spelman career influenced your novel?
JONES: Spelman College is where I found my voice. I studied with Pearl Cleage
who treated me like a writer even before I was one. At Spelman, I never doubted
that I would be a writer one day. This is why, in the acknowledgements of my
book, I thank the women of Giles Hall. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am,
or where I am.
L-I-N-K-E-D: There has been a lot of speculation about who was actually responsible
for the Atlanta Child Murders (e.g. the KKK, Wayne Williams, etc.). Who do you
feel was responsible for the murders?
JONES: I want to answer that question by not answering it. I chose not to focus
on the "True Crime" aspect of the Atlanta Child Murders. I think our
morbid fascination with murder and murderers has sort of obscured what I think
is more important—which is how this event affected the coming of age or
a generation.
L-I-N-K-E-D: Where did you do most of your writing and did you develop any
routines throughout the process?
JONES: I tend to write in the morning, mostly because I feel calmest then,
focused on myself rather than the dramas of my life. I often write away from
home, in coffee shops, because there I don't have access to my phone or computer.
L-I-N-K-E-D: What advice do you have for people who would like to publish
a work?
JONES: I don't have much advice for anyone when it comes to publishing. But I do have advice for people who want to be writers. It seems sort of obvious, but my best advice is that you write and keep writing and write some more. I went through about a five-year period when I received no positive reinforcement for my work—no prizes, no publications. But I just kept writing and eventually things started coming together for me. I've known other writers that are smarter than I am, more talented. But I worked harder and worked longer. This is what has helped me in the end.