Resistance Writers: An Interview with Tara Betts

As societies around the world dip their toes in authoritarianism, we’d like to elevate authors of speculative fiction who imagine alternatives or help us demand the impossible futures of our dreams. In the Resistance Writers interview series, we’ll hear from a handful of writers from the 2015 anthology, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. Each writer elaborates on sources of inspiration and how activism informs their work. Our hope is to provide a source of guidance for aspiring writers of visionary fiction.

Thomas Chisholm (TC)

How did you get involved with the Octavia’s Brood project? How did the editors, Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown, discover your work?

Tara Betts (TB)

I met Walidah when we were both involved in the poetry slam community. We’ve corresponded over the years, and she reached out to me and invited me to be a part of the project. I was delighted to approach the anthology as a challenge to step outside my comfort zone and write something completely new.

TC

What was your inspiration for “Runway Blackout?” Was it a piece you were already developing or did it come about once you were asked to participate in the Octavia’s Brood anthology?

TB

As I was considering what I would write about, I wanted to think about an arena where Black people encounter multiple fronts of repression and shape our identities around. One of them is beauty, so I thought about Fashion Week and how Black people have had to do so much just to break into a field that constantly values a Eurocentric aesthetic, but there are so many fields that continue to do that very thing. However, everyone is interested in the idea of style and looking good, regardless of what color or culture a person identifies with, so I chose that environment, and I kept vividly seeing this beautiful woman with silvery long hair. I heard the narrator of the story starting to come out as a person who saw this woman every day and knew her well. I knew I wanted to write from the perspective of someone who had to show up to work every day, not just from a glamorous woman’s point of view, even if the setting was in a high-fashion world.

TC

What kind of impact have you seen Octavia’s Brood make since its publication in 2015? What role do you think politically motivated fiction can play in today’s climate?

TB

At first, I was pleasantly surprised to see the excitement that people expressed for the early crowdfunding campaign and the subsequent anthology. In terms of the book’s impact, I think it has been an encouraging presence for many more writers. I’m thinking about other anthologies too, like Near Kin: A Collection of Art and Words Inspired by Octavia Estelle Butler and the Hugo-nominated Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler. Octavia’s Brood and these works continue what Sheree Renee Thomas started with the Dark Matter anthologies. Then there are other folks like Ytasha Womack, John Jennings, Bill Campbell, Stacey Robinson, Reynaldo Anderson, Isaiah Lavender III, and Adilifu Nama creating new anthologies, stories, images, and criticism. It’s pretty clear that these people, along with writers like Ibi Zoboi, Nnedi Okorafor, Nalo Hopkinson, and even more, comprise a growing group of writers inspired by Butler and Samuel Delaney. I’m also thinking that it has given Walidah and adrienne opportunities to pursue other writing projects and continue broader conversations about Black speculative and science fiction.

TC

In the current climate the United States is in, I see a lot of people (myself included) criticizing the powers that be, while taking little action. How did you find your voice, and your place within activist circles/movements? How have those experiences shaped your writing? What guidance might you give to aspiring artists/activists? 

TB

I started doing a lot of organizing and activist work in the 1990s, and I was also finding myself in hip hop and poetry. The intersection of that, combined with my love of Black literature and history, informed my zeal to keep organizing for the humanity of Black people and other oppressed people. I think getting a bit older has slowed me down, but I taught a lot of students who have gone on to become teachers and organizers in their own right. If you do your work right, be an example to people who will come up after you. I’ve consistently tried my best to be just that.

TC

What kinds of fiction or what particular authors have shaped your thinking? When writing fiction, what comes first: the concepts and ideals you want to explore, or the characters? Do you write with a political goal in mind?

TB

I read widely, and poets have always been a wellspring for muscular, vibrant language. Since politics informs almost everything I do, I tend to think of the concepts first. The choices that you make (and don’t make) are informed by your contexts. I’m also concerned with telling a good story. If you can’t pull people into a scene or a world with strong language and storytelling, the point, political or otherwise, will be lost.

TC

Do you see yourself as a part of a community of writers and creatives? Does that impact your writing practice in any way? If so, how did you first find that sense of community?

TB

I do see myself as part of a community of creative people, and that grows every day. I’m finding that I like to hear about and experience new works from other people and socialize sometimes, but most of the time, I crave solitary time to focus on my writing and hone my practice. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about writing in groups is having to show up and write at a particular time and place with other people. That accountability can be good for me sometimes, even though most of the time, I enjoy a quiet space at a table at home or in bed. Sometimes, the coffee shop works, while other times I crave sitting at a table with other people. So, that sense of community is an organic process that takes time to cultivate. It’s that simple, and occasionally that difficult.

TC

What are you currently working on, politically and/or creatively? 

TB

Right now, I have a third poetry collection that’s completed, and I have ideas for a few other books. I’ve been editing the literary section for Newcity, an arts and culture magazine in Chicago. Since the publication focuses on a Chicago angle, I’m very excited about covering writers from all over the city. I’m teaching a poetry workshop at Stateville Prison, a maximum-security prison near Chicago, but I’m also teaching workshops in other places. I’m working on some podcasts, so it feels like the beginnings of a generative phase for new work. Lastly, but not least, I’ve been doing more talks with authors about their books at Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Hyde Park. I wanted to showcase writers of color on the South Side, but I’ve also been honored to be a part of bigger events where I was in conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Cyntoia Brown-Long, and Reginald Dwayne Betts. I’d like to continue those sorts of conversations so people can talk about the issues in these real times, in a room with other people too.

TC

How is your writing process for fiction different from poetry? Did writing fiction inform your poetry writing process? Can we expect more fiction from you in the future?

TB

The process of writing is often the same for me, regardless of the genre. I have often told my students who felt like they couldn’t write a poem, “Just write. We’ll figure out what it is later.”

That way of thinking has served me well because I don’t feel pigeon-holed and blocked by thinking I have only one mode for writing or creating. Considering that I have a lot of ideas and the drive to write more, I think you can expect more fiction, essays, and poems in the future.