Blessing's Bead

Blessing's Bead

Debby Dahl Edwardson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2009

This is a family generational story that ends in 1989 and begins in 1917. Book I is Nutaaq's story. Her family are Inupiaq Eskimos. At Sheshlalik, the annual trade fair Nutaaq's older sister Aaluk marries a young man from Siberia. Before Aaluk sails off with her new family she gives Nutaag two Blue Beads which are believed to calm the spirits. That is the last gift that will ever past between the sisters.

Thanks to Ice Curtain,the borders between Alaska and Russia are closed. Families are now seperated by an ocean. Nutaaq's story is just under 60 pages, but the author manages to paint a clear picture of the Inupiaq people. From the first page I was quickly taken by the authors writing.


Book II is Blessing's story. Her Eskimo name is Nutaaq, named after her great-grandmother. Blessing and her younger brother, Isaac are sent to live with Aaka, their grandmother when its discovered their mother is drinking too much. Aaka's Eskimo name is Aaluk, named after the aunt she never meant. Nutaaq and her grandmother are connected by to their Eskimo names.

Blessing and Isaac are now surrounded by family they hardly known. Blessing's story is as captivating as her great- grandmother's. She slowly begins to understand the strength of her name and find the rhythm to an Inupiaq dance buried deep inside her consciousness. Blessing's Bead was a real joy to read. Edwardson's writing is straight forward kind of beauty. I loved it.

The author's interviewed @ Jacket Knack
The author @ Cynsations

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Color Online Quiz: Literature and Women's Studies

Quiz #82

Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must provide your email addy to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.

She was born in Berlin, Germany, to army lieutenant and saxophonist father. Her mother was a health care worker Raised in Washington, D.C.,she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Oxon Hill High School.

Who is she?

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Sunday Salon: Books, Books & Books

Hello all, hope you enjoyed the holiday with family and friends. We had a small group of twelve at my aunt's. I ate too much but better than previous years and that's because I knew I'd be seeing my trainer the next day. That night, I got on the treadmill and Friday I showed up at the gym. Don't be too impressed. I have quite a few pounds to drop so a chica is doing what a chica has to do.


This week we feature Tara Betts in our Women Writers of Color Series. Show her some love. Buy her collection, Arc & Hue.

More community news: We have lots of winners to announce. In order to simplify my life and hopefully to increase your participation, at the end of each month I'll post a single listing of monthly winners. We exist to support writers and that means among other things, reading and reviewing their work. We provide ample opportunity for you to acquire books. If you haven't been participating in our giveaways, the quizzes or memes, I strongly encourage you to do so. Winning is as simple as commenting or reviewing on your blogs. No hoop jumping. Support and your name is likely to be entered for you by me. November Winners' Circle:

Bum Magnet Giveaway- Akila from The Englishist
Color Online Quiz - Elizabeth at LiveJournal
Color Me Brown- Debbie at Genre Reviews
Women Unbound- Danielle at Leaning Towards The Sun
CORA Diversity Roll Call- Erika at Reading With Momma

This week Women Unbound announced that Color Online is sponsoring a monthly book drawing each month. We will draw a winner among participants who spotlight women of color. Represent Color Online and promote women writers of color. Join the challenge.

Don't forget to sign-up for our Greeting Card Exchange. Please join us.
Looking forward to celebrating the holidays with you.

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Women Writers of Color: Tara Betts

Full name: Tara Betts
Birth date: January 7
Location: East Coast, but originally from the Midwest
Website/blog: Tara Betts
Genre: poetry (and writing more prose)


WiP or most recently published work:
Arch & Hue, Willow Books imprint of Aquarius Press

Writing credits:
My poems have appeared in Essence, Callaloo, Drum Voices Revue, African Voices, and Meridians, Reverie, and Kweli among others.
My work is also in the following anthologies:
Gathering Ground, Home Girls Make Some Noise: Hip Hop Feminism, ROLE CALL, That Takes Ovaries!, Bum Rush the Page, Spoken Word Revolution, and Spoken Word Revolution Redux.

How frequently do you update your site?
Since I just revamped my site, I will be updating it daily, or at least 3-5 times a week.

Is your site designed for reader interaction?
Yes, I have an RSS feed, a guestbook and the option to share comments on some elements of the site. There should be video and items available in the store section soon. If readers have questions, they can email info@tarabetts.net or link up with me on twitter or the facebook fan page.

Post of note, something in particular you want readers to check out:
Since I just started blogging again, my first entry that talks about reading in Chicago just after the beating death of Derrion Albert. I saw so many young people that I really care for while I was there. I taught in Derrion’s neighborhood and often walked on the same streets where Natasha Howliet was gunned down at a bus stop near Westinghouse High School. I know some of her teachers. This is why I keep writing and teaching. We have an urgency to serve directly. We have to work toward changing the way people think and envision our surroundings, immediate and global. This moment made me consider that deeply, "Not The Only Child."

100 words or less how would you describe your work?
I’d say that there’s a heavy narrative hand that lays down what I want to say. A poem or a story should have a hard slap or grab a throat. Yet, it should cradle a bit of the dreamer, make connections, and soar. Metaphor and imagery seems to do that. I focus on the specific, but find myself reaching toward timeless issues poets address: love, hate, loss, and affirmation. Pablo Neruda, Sonia Sanchez, Toni Cade Bambara, Nazim Hikmet, Agha Shahid Ali, Julia de Burgos are some of the poets who achieve that kind of balance. I seek that.

100 words on less please share your thoughts on one the writing life:
What keeps me writing often has little to do with writing. What haunts me and obsesses me, topics that keep emerging and intriguing, compel me to write. I’m a lifelong reader too. My house is inundated with books. Their presence reminds me how much work I have to do. I can pluck inspiration from a shelf. The writing life is a precarious balancing act of generating, revising, reading, and sharing, which means readings, flurries of correspondence, travel, stuff that has nothing to do with writing. There are workshops, submissions, teaching, thinking about writing. It’s a lot to balance.

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