Fiction author reads for black writing series

Punctuating his reading with a variety of character accents and an occasional jazz tune, fiction writer Randall Kenan captivated an audience of more than 30 students, faculty and community members Wednesday with a reading of his short story "What Are Days?" Part of the Afro-American Studies Program's "A Mosaic of Black Writing," Kenan's performance was followed by a book signing session for his novel A Visitation of Spirits and his short story collection Let the Dead Bury the Dead. Kenan, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University, was introduced by friend Lorene Cary, a creative writing lecturer at the University. "There are moments in Kenan's writing that are so good that talking about them isn't as good as reading them," Cary said in her introduction to Kenan's work. Cary then left the author to impress the crowd with a reading that was met at times with laughter and at times with the dead silence. The story's universal themes of loneliness and the search for lost love, combined with the Kenan's energetic and passionate reading, captured the attention of a diverse audience. A brief information session followed, eliciting Kenan's impressions of his own writing process, which he termed "disorganized." As a writer, Kenan said he always "hopes the reader has a good time." College sophomore Libby Copeland, who attended the event, said the reading was not only fun, but also touching. "Not only did he write well, but he reads unbelievably well too," she said. "It was like seeing a dramatic reading. It was colorful. Something about his creation was meaningful." According to Afro-American Studies Program Coordinator Gale Ellison, the event was the second in the Mosaic series, which is designed to highlight the genres of black writing.

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