MY BLACK TEA GARDEN

Creating Space to Write

STEPHANIE Y. EVANS, PHD

WELCOME TO MIXED METHODS MEMOIR

CREATING SPACE TO WRITE

For twenty five-years, my research has explored themes in Black women's life writing, including education, health, and wellness. As a professor, I have published four single-authored books and co-edited five. My purpose with this memoir project is to create space for campus, national, and global communities of writers to preserve our life stories.

MY BLACK TEA GARDEN

This website shares an example of my multi-dimensional memoir. I bring together 15 different types of sources from my journey, (including maps, photos, publications, and poetry) to share my life story. This method of information gathering enhances the life writing experience by expanding the range of information we use to tell our story. It is also much more fun to create.

A RESOURCE FOR LIFE WRITING

My work adds to discussions about memoir and autobiography, especially engaging with ideas like multi-modal, multi-media, and digital storytelling. My approach is a literal "reSOURCE" for life writing. The detailed attention to a diverse type of sources makes my approach unique and approachable for all levels of writing.

BUILDING ON THE TRADITION OF BLACK WOMEN WRITERS

Dr. Anna Julia Cooper

“My sharpest memory of Sis Annie is of her sitting in the sunroom off the porch . . . her sitting and writing.”

~ Frederick Newsome, grand nephew of Dr. Cooper

Anna Julia Cooper’s sunroom and her garden are noted places in her reflection, though she did not explicitly call her sitting or gardening “meditation” in her published accounts.

~ Stephanie Y. Evans, BLACK WOMEN'S YOGA HISTORY

MIXED METHODS MEMOIRS: A LIFE WRITING RESOURCE

Writing from the Source

Mixed Methods Memoirs is a writing practice built on a resource I developed in 2003. When I began as a professor that year, I created the tool below for my research courses. I require at least 10 different source types for final papers in all of my classes (graduate and undergraduate). This approach is useful to teach scholars because enables students to gather information from multiple locations, cite a variety of sources, include their personal experiences, and synthesize information to create new knowledge. The acronym of source types affirms that "scholars without sources are "REAL BAD NEWS."

REAL BAD NEWS

RLL BBAAADD NNEWS

Report, government document, or database
Live source, oral history, interview, podcast, or video
Law or legal journal
Books (two: nonfiction, scholarly)
Book review
Articles (two: scholarly journals and magazines)
Archives (photos, letters, maps), art, or museum
Agency, professional association, or organization
Dissertation or thesis
Documentary or movie
Newspapers (two: one prior to 1945, one contemporary)
Novel or short story
Encyclopedia or bibliography
Website, multimedia, blog, or social media post
Song, poem, or performance

MY BLACK TEA GARDEN

Creating Space to Write