Last week, I went down to Georgia for the Decatur Book Festival and hung out with some very cool folks. I interviewed Natasha Trethewey, hung out with Dan Albergotti, had lunch with Kwame Dawes, went to a reading featuring Khadijah Queen and pseudo-shopped with Nicole Sealey.
The highlight of my trip, though, was a surprise visit to Georgia Perimeter College where I got to hang out with Lita Hooper's class. She's teaching my book this term and the students were shocked to see me there on Friday. They were sharp and quite attentive during the reading. They asked questions and requested poems, we laughed, we cried (not really), an all-around good time was had by all (at least I hope so).
They were beautiful and carried some serious names on their backs. Of the few I can remember, there was Jacquiese--tall b-baller who got into the word, Tenacity--sweet Southern girl with a wide smile and Teena (yes, as in Marie)--who embraced the music of her name whole-souled. Lovely group, lovely campus. Thanks, Lita, for the push :-)
