We talked with our Young Writers Instructor, Teré Fowler-Chapman, to learn a little more about him. Check out his answers below, and find him on the Summer Camp schedule!
When did you first realize you wanted to be an author? What inspired you?
I've joked a lot about my first metaphor in various gigs. When I was five, I told my mom I wanted to be a sidewalk. I don't know what I meant by that, but I always had a vivid imagination growing up. Throughout my childhood, writing kept showing up for me and has become this constant north star. I used to read a lot as a kid, and over time, reading became my writing; that writing became poems; poems became about learning, and then learning turned into teaching, and onward.
Who is your favorite author? What is it that you like about them?
My favorite is Tupac's book of poetry, which I love more than anything. I love that he wrote it as a teenager, how his poems play with eyes, and his simplistic writing approach to such complex concepts in life. Right now? I've been reading/listening to a lot of Dr. Gabor Maté's work on trauma. I find his perspective on childhood trauma and mental health captivating and deeply inspiring. When I grow up, I would love to be an expressive therapist while teaching, and I think his work has a beautiful way of weaving storytelling and compassion with stark truth about our mental health as a society.
If you could have tea with one character from a book, who would you choose?
Oh, this one is good! Tea with any character from a book!? It doesn't qualify as having tea per se, but I'd love to live in TJ's neighborhood from Little Man, Little Man by James Baldwin. I can picture sitting on the stoop of my brownstone one Harlem afternoon, sipping a warm black peach tea and watching TJ's four-year-old self move through his world (his neighborhood) with so much energy, curiosity, and truth. James Baldwin only wrote this one children's book, which (at least to me) makes TJ's neighborhood a pretty special place to visit if I could-- a place that carries a little tenderness and grit, full of seeing life in the smallest of details, just like TJ.
What advice would you give our young writers?
Your voice, your story, your world, and your opinion are necessary. You don't need permission from anyone or anything to tell your truth. The best writers were never worried about perfecting a poem- they were more concerned about telling the truth. So, tell the truth by any means necessary. The rest will work itself out.
Do you have any upcoming projects or events?
I'm hosting the Writing in Color July monthly meetup. This writing community program is for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or People of Color. I have a reading in the Boulder at East Window Gallery on Friday, May 2nd at 7:00 pm. To see where I am and where I'm headed, subscribe to my Substack: https://itsterray.substack.com/.
