Woman of many genres
A writer's writer: Opal Palmer Adisa
Maura Curley
She's smart, socially conscious, seductive and scholarly. Even on the phone, she has a provocative persona. Her velvet voice embraces you. You realize she is in love with language - and with life.
Dr. Opal Palmer Adisa, as she is known on the St. Croix campus of theUniversity of the Virgin Islands, arrived in the Virgin Islands in January 2010 to take over the helm of The Caribbean Writer, an annual anthology published by the university.
She came with intimate knowledge of the well-respected publication, having contributed several award winning pieces in the past. The 25th anniversary volume, the second under her stewardship, was recently published.
Palmer Adisa appears to be the perfect editor for a volume of prose, poetry, essays, critiques and tributes, by primarily Caribbean writers, since she is one of them.
She has been referred to as “a writer’s writer.”
She grew up in Kingston Jamaica, nurtured on poetry and “sticky sugarcane.”
She numbers Longfellow and Lord Byron among her favorites as a young girl, and says reading the works of poets made her want to describe her surroundings.
She feels most comfortable in the role of “ an observer, keenly looking at people and their environment.”
She wrote in a writer's blog “Often the poetry that most moves me is not in a book, but on the roadside, in a café or restaurant and comes out of the mouths of those who do not even recognize its poetry.”
Palmer Adisa studied in California, earning two master’s degrees from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Prior to assuming her post at the University of the Virgin Islands she taught literature at the California College of Arts in Oakland, where she was the driving force in establishing the college’s master’s of fine art’s degree in creative writing.
But Palmer Adisa is not one to rest on academic laurels.
She’s published a dozen books of poetry, short stories and novels, with a novel scheduled for release the end of this year.
She says her role as a single mother, with academic teaching responsibilties, forced her to frequently write in “stolen moments.”
She recalls “ I survived with four to five hours sleep, for I don’t know how long.”
After her children were older, she accepted writer-in-residence posts in Brazil, and Egypt.
Over the years she’s amassed a series of award and accolades.
The Color of Purple author, Alice Walker, referred to Palmer Adisa’s 1986 book Bake-Face other Guava Stories as “ solidly visceral important stories, written with integrity and love.”
Now 57, Palmer Adisa, doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.
She talks about her mother, a strong women and community activist, who has shaped her interest in society. Palmer Adisa writings have tackled social issues, from child development to the environment.
Her 1997 novel, It Begins With Tears, has been lauded as “an important motivational works for young adults.”
Her interest in children also caused her to earn a certificate in child development, run a children’s theater company, and assume a role as radio talk show, where she dispensed parenting advice. Her three-month “pilot" lasted four years, and led to invitations to make motivational speeches.
Palmer Adisa sees her world as one with a road to travel, often not knowing where it will lead. She says two years ago, being in the Virgin Islands wasn’t even in her radar, but now she’s at “ a wonderful moment in my life.”
She’s committed to her work at the University of the Virgin Islands where she wants to help establish a master’s in fine arts degree program in creative writing. She's also making personal “writing space.”
Forever the teacher, she advises other writers to exercise “balance and persistence.” She stresses that creatve people need a block of time to themselves. Regarding relationships she says "We must find people who understand who we are and what we are.”
She urges those who want to write to “carve out a space for yourself that allows you to meet your goals to be a writer.”
Palmer Adisa's newest novel Painting Away Regrets is about divorcee in California and took a long time for her to write.
Though she interviewed 20 divorced women, she says it's a fiction, with some autobiographical elements.
She says “ I’m interested in healing, and how to negotiate places of turmoil to resolve a situation.”
When all is said and done, Palmer Adisa beleives she may be motivated most by the desire to leave a legacy to her children, beyond just being a ‘good mother.’
She says “ I want to leave a testament to who I am, how I saw the world - and helped.”
Image of Opal Palmer Adisa courtesy University of the Virgin Islands.
Maura Curley is publisher of virginvoices.com
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