K. Ibura
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K. Ibura is a writer, painter, and traveler from New Orleans, Louisiana. The middle child of five, she grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood with oak and fig trees, locusts and mosquitoes, cousins and neighbors. K. Ibura's work delves into spheres of human liberation, human connection, and evolution. She employs speculative fiction and creative nonfiction to take readers through mind-bending journeys into the transcendent, the mystical, and the fantastic.
Clarion West
BlogKIS.listartist life // Clarion West // fear // Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art // Gail Raborn // imposter // novel // novel writing // Race // Stephen Nachmanovitch // surrender // writing life // writing struggles
Vol. 50, Surrendering the Ego
Posted on 15 August 2005
Brooklyn, NY I’ve been tricked, had, hoodwinked, bamboozled. After years—10 to be exact—of working on the same high-concept novel, I have somehow been convinced to start working on a whole new novel. That’s right, completely new—from scratch! I remember when I was at Clarion West, one of our teachers—Jack Womack, told us that learning how… »
BlogKIS.listClarion West // craft of writing // rejection // rejection/acceptance o'meter // writing // writing life // writing struggles
Vol. 25, The Alchemy of Writing
Posted on 2 July 2002
A True Story She is a high-minded woman, and hates complaining, so she suffers the demands of her craft with little comment. She bows down to each of writing’s demands, barely stopping to consider the rationality of the requests. She works hard to save thousands, then blows it all on an intimate trip for two:… »
BlogKIS.listBullshit or Fertilizer // Clarion West // craft of writing // creativity // How to Find Your Mission in Life // imani // kiini // kis.lis // kujichagulia // kuumba // Kwanaza // nia // Pierre Bennu // Richard Bolles // ujamaa // ujima // umoja // writing advice
Vol. 16, Kwanzaa in Art, Writing, and Life
Posted on 3 January 2002
During my childhood, Kwanzaa was the only holiday my family celebrated. No birthdays, no New Year’s hoopla, no Christmas. Kwanzaa was a time of morning candle lighting and discussion of the Nguzo Saba (the seven principles of Kwanzaa) and evening cultural celebrations. One of my most memorable Kwanzaa moments was in the early 90s. My… »
BlogKIS.listartist life // artist philosophy // balance // Clarion West // difference between making art and making money // earning money // honesty // K. Ibura // KIS.list // living off art // mindset // money and art // pathway for income // success // supporting self // writing life // writing struggles
Vol. 13, Money and Art
Posted on 2 December 2001
Email Conversations with a Writer Friend New York, NY I’d noticed one writer friend constantly complaining about money. On stage, in private, whenever conversations about her work came up, one of her responses would be “Yeah, well, I ain’t got no money.” Her disgruntledness made me uncomfortable. I’ll have to excavate (as another friend says… »
BlogKIS.listbeing open // Clarion West // coincidences // Colonize This! // community // giving and receiving // K. Ibura // KIS.list // magazine writing // Ms. magazine // putting yourself out there // rape // rejection // rejection/acceptance o'meter // seduction // self presentation // serendipity // sharing wisdom // taking a chance // volunteering // writing life
Vol. 10, The Universe’s Ripple Effects
Posted on 2 November 2001
A Ms. Magazine Intern’s Apartment New York, NY My parents brought me and my siblings up with a reverence for ancestors and a thankfulness for life, but with no real religious structure. They never set out to define God for us, nor did they even suggest to us that there was a God. Religion just… »
BlogKIS.listasemic // Clarion West // communication // creativity // Dominican Republic // experimental fiction // freewriting // inspiration // K. Ibura // KIS.list // language // Nalo Hopkinson // Red Clay // rejection // techniques // word play // Writer // writer's block // writing // writing life // zine
Vol. 7, Freewriting and Asemic Writing
Posted on 27 September 2001
A few months ago Tim Gaze, a zine editor interested in experimental fiction asked me to write a piece for his zine. He had read the first speculative short story I had ever written, “Of Wings, Nectar, and Ancestors,” in the literary journal Anansi and wanted to read more similar work. In “Of Wings, Nectar,… »
BlogKIS.listappearances // audience // Clarion West // embarrassment // erotica // fear // hiding out // K. Ibura // KIS.list // listeners // nerves // performance // practice // Promotion // pushing your career // Radio // reading // representing yourself // responsibility // Self-promotion // strippers // WBAI // writing // writing struggles
Vol. 4, A Conversation about Self Promotion
Posted on 2 September 2001
The Living Room of a Writer’s Apartment Brooklyn, NY I’ve been writing and publishing stories and essays since 1990. In the beginning I never read my work at all. When people were looking for writers to read at events, I’d refuse; when pushed, I’d be noncommittal. When I did promise to read, I would leave… »
BlogKIS.listbaby steps // Cave Canem // Clarion West // Growing as a writer // Jack Womack // K. Ibura // KIS.list // Nalo Hopkinson // novel structure // novel writing // poetry challenge // rejection // rejection/acceptance o'meter // the artist life // writer's groups // writing // writing advice // writing organization // writing struggles // writing trips
Vol. 3, Novel Writing
Posted on 22 August 2001
Femail Circle Cyberspace I’m on a cyber-circle with a group of women from college. We’re almost all writers. We talk about life and work and encourage each other to go beyond our comfort zones in lots of ways. Last summer, one member, upon return from Cave Canem challenged us all to write a poem a… »
BlogKIS.listauthor appearances // Clarion West // Cuba // Dark Matter // Hour of the Wolf // K. Ibura // KIS.list // Promotion // Radio // Sci fi // Self-promotion // Speculative fiction // WBAI // Writer
Vol. 2, Radio and Readings
Posted on 11 August 2001
WBAI Radio Station Wall Street, Manhattan Before I went to Clarion (a six-week speculative fiction writing workshop), the New York Review of Science Fiction had a small crisis. Scott Westerfield had guest-edited a sci fi issue of Nerve magazine (a magazine about sex) and the NY Review of Science Fiction was hosting a reading from… »