Meet Carole Boston Weatherford

By Theresa W. Bennett-Wilkes

“I will always write—it’s my favorite thing to do.”
Carole Boston Weatherford

Carole Boston Weatherford, author and performance artist, is engaging and animated as she interacts with fifty well-behaved fourth graders from General Greene Elementary School in Greensboro. On a cold, gray and wet Wednesday morning the children and their teachers assembled in the meeting room of the Blanche S. Benjamin Public Library. Carole passes out a rain stick, with a brief explanation of what it is, a drum; some jingle bells and tick tock drums to eager volunteers. She quickly advises how and when each instrument will be used. The children dutifully repeat their lines and she begins reading, “The Slave Storyteller.”

Carole shares a poem about Harriet Tubman entitled, “The Conductor was a Woman.” The youngsters sang “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In” at the end of “Come Sunday.” They gave thumbs up, or down, on the foods named in “Soul Food” and recited “Eat at Moe’s” together. She also read her book, Freedom on the Menu, historical fiction for children about the Sit-In Movement and provided an explanation of the genre.

During the question and answer session the children queried her on her writing. “I may do fifty drafts of a poem,” she explained. “I enjoy doing picture research and my favorite book is Remember the Bridge because I spent twenty years working on it and getting it published. My father was a high school print teacher and he used some of my jingles to teach students how to set type. At an early age I saw my work in print.”

Carole has written twenty books and at least fifteen are for young people. She says the term “author” best describers her and writing is her passion. “It’s a God-given talent. It’s my favorite thing in the world to do other than being with my family—husband Ronald, and children Caresse and Jeffery. I think I lead a charmed life because I’m able to work at what I love. I truly believe that it is the Master’s plan for me to do this—to write. He has opened the doors for me to succeed at it and earn a living.”

During her presentation at the library, Carole told the children she composed her first poem when she was in first grade and her mother wrote it down. As a child she wanted to be a librarian. At 22 she decided to become a writer. “I’m very interested in history,” she said, “maybe even passionate about it; especially what Black people have achieved under such adverse conditions. Through the subject matter I choose to write about I try to share what I’ve learned.” Her first two books were published in 1995.

Carole is a native of Baltimore, MD. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Promotion: Persuasive Communication in Marketing, from American University in 1977. She has two master’s degrees; an M.A. in Publication Design from the University of Baltimore and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Currently she is a Visiting Distinguished Professor at Fayetteville State University.

Carole has won numerous awards and received grants and commissions. The Sound That Jazz Makes won the 2001 Carter G. Woodson Award from the National Council for the Social Studies and was an NAACP Image Award finalist. She received two North Carolina Arts Council fellowships and the Furious Flower Poetry Prize from James Madison University. She was a columnist for the News & Record (a newspaper serving the Piedmont Triad) and her work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Essence, and American Legacy magazine.

“I have several books that are forthcoming and one project that I’ve completed.” Dear Dr. Rosenwald is historical fiction for children that follows the building of a rural Rosenwald school. The other two books are Before John was a Jazz Giant: A Song of Coltrane, and Birmingham: 1963. All three are poetry.

Another of Carole’s children’s books, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, is due out in the fall of 2006. “It’s about the role of spirituality in her heroism; it’s a poem in three voices: Harriet, the narrator and God.”

The special project she recently completed is entitled Praying Mamas, an oral history of African Americans and prayer. “The first draft is complete and I’m looking for an agent now.”

For women who dream of becoming writers or authors, Carole counsels patience and persistence. “And while you’re waiting for responses from publishers continue to hone your craft. Practice writing every day and let your perseverance match your passion for your art. I consider what I do a calling. If I don’t do it, I’ll not only sell myself short but I won’t be obedient to God. I just love the sound of language—it’s like music to me.”

Visit Carole on the Web at www.caroleweatherford.com.

Some of the current books by Carole Boston Weatherford:

The Sound That Jazz Makes. New York: Walker Publication, 2000.	Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People. New York: Philomel Books, 2001.	Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins. New York: Dial, 2004.

Forthcoming books by Carole Boston Weatherford:
Dear Dr. Rosenwald. New York: Scholastic.
Before John was a Jazz Giant: A Song of Coltrane. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Birmingham: 1963. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. New York: Hyperion/Jump at the Sun.