Welcome to PTW Office Hours: An Exclusive Chat with Mahogany L. Browne
By: Tonya Abari
In June, Permission to Write will be re-enrolling for our new membership program, Permission Granted. This fee-based, exclusive community features writing development by means of access to recorded masterclasses and group sessions, a private community forum, weekly craft emails and writing opportunities, as well as a robust resource hub – complete with book recommendations, sample pitches, query templates, and writing exercises.
One key benefit of joining the membership community is monthly office hours where in addition to connecting with one another and having a space to ask questions, members will have the opportunity to join industry professionals in talks on craft. The invited guest first has a stimulating conversation with founder Ashley M. Coleman, followed by an audience Q&A.
To kick off the first of many PTW Office Hour chats, at the end of March, the community was joined by author, poet, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne. Browne discussed her journey to writing and becoming a published author (of 16 books!), in addition to reading from her latest YA novel-in-verse, Chlorine Sky.
While we can’t share all the gems (you’ll have to join the membership community to access the rest), Mahogany dropped some major truth during office hours with the PTW crew. Here are a few snippets from our conversation:
Ashley: What was the most rewarding part of publishing your YA debut?
Mahogany: It hits differently when people are holding the book and showing the book...people have made pictures of themselves as the book. It was a lot for me. Like, wait, what? This is amazing! I don’t know why we talk ourselves out of loving each other out loudly and how good that feels just to be seen. But as a voice that was constantly unseen, erased, diminished, disfigured...it meant the world to see that folks are finding some kind of tethering to this book. There are folks across generational gaps that find something about this story that moves them.
Ashley: How do you balance writing with the rest of the work that you’re doing?
Mahogany: That’s a great question. I moved away to Antigua for 4 months. And my writing process is so much better. I don’t know if it’s the sea, the sunlight. But the writing was happening. Every 45 minutes I wrote, I would get up and take a beat for 15 minutes. Make sure I have a full lunch, that I’m doing some type of workout....but I ended up writing about 8 hours a day, for three months easy. But when I’m here in New York, not the same. I’m lucky to get a good two hours in each day. I wake up pretty early to do it before people get to moving.
Fire dialogue like our March chat with Mahogany L. Browne is just one of the many offerings from the Permission Granted. For more information on becoming a member, visit the membership page on our website and stay tuned for announcements of forthcoming guests. We are excited to bring more dope chats to this space in 2021 and beyond!
Tonya Abari is a former teacher turned writer and forthcoming author. As an educator, Abari taught English and Creative Writing before transitioning to a nontraditional role – teaching young performers in the film, television, and theatre industry. She instructed students on the set of HBO’s The Wire, The Color Purple, The Lion King, Next to Normal, and Radio City Music Spectacular. Tonya has also facilitated National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) and Language Matters grant-funded workshops on the writings of Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Margaret Walker, Octavia Butler, and a host of other prolific Black authors.
