Featured Member Interview –
Sheryl Bize-Boutte
By
A Rich Retirement: Sheryl Bize-Boutte Proves
It’s Never Too Late for the Write Words
by Nita Sweeney, author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink. One of the many joys of participating in the Women’s National Book Association of San Francisco is the opportunity to learn from talented, successful authors such a Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte. As could be expected from even a quick review of her work, Sheryl provided generous, insightful answers to my questions.
NS: You enjoyed a rich work-life before you turned to writing full-time. Did your work experience prepare you for this phase of your career?
SJBB: The
two things my work experience did for my writing career were 1) to
provide a nice retirement with freedom to write and 2) to let me know
that I could write in many different forms. In those ways the career
off-ramp was totally worth it. Although I wrote a bit now and then
throughout my government career, my work-related writing was often
lauded and I became the “writer” in the office. I once wrote a section
of congressional testimony for a cabinet level secretary that was
delivered to the House without one word being changed. That sealed it
for me. I knew what I would be doing in my retirement!NS: Your work has won some impressive awards. Have those helped further your writing career?
SJBB: Awards are impressive to some and I am sure have caught the eye of readers and some important people in the writing game. But I have found that much of my recognition and furtherance as a writer has been a result of my readings, involvement in the writing community and face-to-face casual literary encounters out there in the world of writing. I don’t write for the award of it. I write for the love of it. I think people feel my love of the writing and sometimes that alone makes them want to hear and see more of it.
NS: You have been described as a “talented multidisciplinary writer whose works artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about life and the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative.” What did you think when you read this review?
SJBB: I
can only surmise that this is what she received from reading my
stories. I will say that since an African American mother who was often
treated badly because of her skin color, and a Creole father who was
often mistaken as White raised me, some may view my writings about my
observations of the differences as artful, but for me they are what my
life was and is made of. I had an “inside view” so to speak of what it
meant to be treated as Black as well as White in Oakland as well as in
the South, and since I was an extremely nosey child who listened to and
looked closely at everything, I remember it, I kept it and I can write
it. As far as the narrative part: My favorite writing form is the short
story. I learned a long time ago that be to an effective short story
teller one must make each sentence a story in itself, have very few
characters and stay on point. NS: Which of your many publications made you the proudest and why?
SJBB: I am most proud of my first published story, “Dead Chickens and Miss Anne” as it was the first short story I wrote after I retired and was published by the first and only place I submitted it. In addition to that, the comments about the story included that people felt I had found my voice, but in fact I was humbled to know that I had never lost it.
NS: Much of your work is set in Oakland. Can you talk about why this suits your work?
SJBB: I think Oakland is one of the most vibrant, creative and artistic cities on the planet and I am so fortunate to be here. As I have watched it change, grow, shrink, and morph, it has informed and nurtured my writing from the day my 12-year-old self wrote a story on my new Smith Corona, to now and beyond. My real memory and imaginary muse have their base in Oakland and both remain solid and rich with many more stories to tell.
NS: You successfully write in many genres. Are there common threads among these works?
SJBB: I think the common thread is my unique voice. My way of expression that is just me. I see things in a different way than some. I write with that difference.
NS: Crowds have enjoyed your readings, which were said to “bring down the house.” To what do you attribute your success at such events?
SJBB: I
come from a family of voracious readers, storytellers, singers, poets,
writers; you name it. One of our favorite pastimes as children was to
act out scenes or mimic favorite characters as we told stories. I still
do that. I find myself changing tone, pitch and voice when reading,
especially poetry where there may be more than one character or message.
Audiences are tickled and sometimes enthralled by that or perhaps how
much I seem to like what I am saying. But the bigger attribution comes
from the fact that I do not see myself as separate from the audience. I
am not a presenter. I am a person sharing my life and work with people
who have been gracious enough to sit quietly (until the end, hopefully
when they applaud raucously) and listen.
Renee Watson is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor award for her young adult novel Piecing Me Together. Her other acclaimed books include the picture books Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, and A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, about the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Her new book for middle grade readers, Some Places More than Others, will be published in September 2019.
Women's National Book Association San Francisco Chapter, August 16, 2019: The Art of Outlining Your Fiction 
Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is
an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose works artfully succeed in
getting across deeper meanings about life and the politics of race and
economics without breaking out of the narrative, with Oakland often
serving as the backdrop for her touching and often hilarious works. Her
first book, A Dollar Five-Stories From A Baby Boomer’s Ongoing Journey (2014) has been described as “ rich in vivid imagery”, and “incredible.” Her second book, All That and More’s Wedding (2016),
a collection of fictional mystery/crime short stories, is praised as
“imaginative with colorful and likeable characters that draw you in to
each story and leave you wanting more.” Her latest book, Running for the 2:10 (2017), a follow-on to A Dollar Five,
delves deeper into her coming of age in Oakland and the embedded issues
of race and skin color with one reviewer calling it “… a great
contribution to literature.” Her fictional story, “Uncle Martin” will be
published by Medusa’s Laugh Press Summer 2019. She currently has a
novel in progress titled “Betrayal on the Bayou,” slated for publication
in early 2020. She is also a contributor to award winning author Kate
Farrell’s upcoming book “Story Power,” an anthology on how writers build
and create their stories.
Martha Conway’s latest novel, The Underground River, was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. She is also the author of Thieving Forest, which won the North American Book Award in Historical Fiction, and Sugarland, which was named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016. Martha’s short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Iowa Review, and
is a recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative
Writing. In addition to writing, Martha is an instructor of creative
writing at Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program and UC
Berkeley Extension. She received her BA from Vassar College in History
and English, and her MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State
University. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in San Francisco with
her family, where the fog reminds her of lake-effect cloud cover in
Cleveland. Martha tweets ten-minute prompts every weekday on twitter
(#10minprompt) via @marthamconway.
Friday,
August 16, 2019, 2pm to 4 pm 
In partnership with the Womens' National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter and moderated by President Brenda Knight.
Mary Mackey is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Earthsong Series—four
novels which describe how the peaceful Goddess-worshiping people of
Prehistoric Europe fought off patriarchal nomad invaders (The Village of Bones, The Year The Horses Came, The Horses at the Gate, and The Fires of Spring).
Mary's novels have been praised by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Pat Conroy,
Thomas Moore, Marija Gimbutas, Maxine Hong Kingston, Marge Piercy, and
Theodore Roszak for their historical accuracy, inventiveness, literary
grace, vividness, and storytelling magic. They have made The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle
Bestseller Lists, been translated into twelve foreign languages and
sold over a million and a half copies. Mary has also written seven
collections of poetry including Sugar Zone, winner of the 2012
PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award. This September Marsh Hawk Press will
publish a collection of her new and selected poems entitled The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams. At 
Martha Conway’s latest novel, The Underground River, was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. She is also the author of Thieving Forest, which won the North American Book Award in Historical Fiction, and Sugarland, which was named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016. Martha’s short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Iowa Review, and
is a recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative
Writing. In addition to writing, Martha is an instructor of creative
writing at Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program and UC
Berkeley Extension. She received her BA from Vassar College in History
and English, and her MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State
University. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in San Francisco with
her family, where the fog reminds her of lake-effect cloud cover in
Cleveland. Martha tweets ten-minute prompts every weekday on twitter
(#10minprompt) via 
Mary
Mackey
Joan
Gelfand’s reviews, stories and poetry have appeared in over 100
national and international literary journals and magazines including
Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Kalliope, California Quarterly, the Toronto
Review, Marsh Hawk Review and Levure Litteraire.