Michele Andrea Bowen: No. Never directly. I just watch and listen and collect information, and do research to put my stories together. Naturally, real life influences my writing. But I do not write from it directly.
Francis Ray: The only book based on a real-life experience is The Turning Point. Several years ago I was diagnosed with a macula hole in each eye which can lead to blindness. Surgery was performed to correct the problem. For eight weeks, I was face down for twenty-two hours out of twenty-four. I was never so frightened in my life when my vision didn't clear up the exact day the retina specialist promised. Fortunately my vision did improve, but I began to think what if it hadn't? What if the surgery had failed? Those "what ifs" developed into Dr. Adam Wakefield, a prominent neurosurgeon who loses his sight after being attacked by car thieves, and the hero of The Turning Point.
Michael Datcher: My latest book is a memoir so, yes.
Jabari Asim: Many of my essays are, and probably too many of my poems. Right now I'm drifting toward poems that are devoid of autobiographical elements; I'm a little sick of poems that are all about "I, I, I, me, me, me. . ." I'm toying with some fiction, however, based on experiences from childhood. I've just completed a short story along those lines.
Myles Pinkney and Sandra Pinkney: Real life experiences do play a part in our books, because they shape how we look at things. We did not want children to feel bad about what they look like, the way we were made to feel bad about our appearance.
Alexs Pate: Nearly all of my writing, except my Amistad has emerged from things I experienced, witnessed, or felt. Even in Amistad, the novel, the thoughts of the Africans (which the film could not reveal) are amplifications of issues I am trying to deal with. Particularly the idea of home, of black male guilt and innocence, and a nagging sense of marginality. I poured these ponderings into the consciousness of Cinque as a way of validating his resolve and courage.
Maryann Reid: Very much. Some of the situations in Sex and the Single Sister are based on real-life experiences. Conversations, intimate encounters and even my fantasies make their way into my writing.
Mat Johnson: All my stories are based on some experience, but nothing exactly. It’s kind of like a dream, you recognize the places, people, and some of the actions, but everything is scrambled up into something new. Copying reality is a great way to bring truth to your work. With DROP, my first novel, pieces of it seem so familiar I’ve almost convinced myself it happened, but of course none of it did.
Natasha Tarpley: Yes, definitely. My first children's book, I Love My Hair, was based on my own experience getting my hair combed as a little girl. This was such a special time for me, because it was one of the few moments that I had my mother all to myself --- without interruption from my sisters and brother. We played games and made up stories, so this was also an opportunity to exercise my imagination, which was important to me as a young writer.
In addition, remembering how I felt about things, how I saw the world as a little girl, informs my work quite a bit, even if the story is not based on an experience I actually had.
Tonya Bolden: My novel Just Family is rather autobiographical.
Marissa Monteilh: The portion of May December Souls that deals with fatherly abandonment issues is based upon real-life experiences. Originally, I wrote May December Souls as a vehicle toward chronicling my relationship with my own father. Before I knew it, the story evolved into a tale about a May-December relationship. The main character, Mariah Pijeaux, also struggles to learn how to attract Mr. Right. A great deal of this novel is semi-autobiographical.
Raymond A. Winbush: It most certainly is. I weave past experiences of my life as a parent, psychologist and black male in the nonfiction I write. I think it is important for black writers to let their readers know "where they are coming from" in their writings. This is no indulgence of ego, but a way of letting their readers know that they are connected with them at several levels.
Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant: Our work is not autobiographical. In order to do that, you have to include other people's private lives and experiences and we've decided that isn't fair. We do however, delve into our own emotional responses to specific situations in our lives to give our characters legitimate reactions. Life experience also provides a jumping off point, an inspiration for topics or situations we choose to explore.
Kayla Perrin: Some of my stories are loosely based on real-life experiences. Not the entire story, but incidents within the story. It's hard to not write what you know!
Phyllis Y. Harris: From The Soul: Stories of Great Black Parents and the Lives They Gave Us is my first book and was based on one-on-one interviews with black men and women in many parts of the country, from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, ages 20 - 50.
Kim McLarin: Only the stuff that makes me look good. But seriously, I think readers sometimes get hung up on this question when really it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters about fiction is whether you believed, felt, understood, learned, were provoked in some way.
Steven Barnes: Yes. Most of my books contain images, experiences and attitudes shaped by my lifelong fascination with personal development of one kind or another: Martial arts, meditation, Native American spiritual practices, yoga, etc.
William Jelani Cobb: My lawyers advise me against answering this question honestly.
Afi Scruggs: My memoir details the emotional impact of 20 years of genealogical research.
Monique Morris: My work is based in my real-life experiences having interviewed black youth in the justice system, having experienced the ramifications of incarceration and detention from the perspective of a family member, and also just observing the people around me and living in my communities.
