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A Tribute to Richard Carlisle by Emily Russell
Presentations By: Mathis Taylor & Ayesha Eze Grant
Emily Russell
Sweet Adelaide is the story of a young bride who, having broken free from a controlling marriage, dies in a tragic accident. Lying on the
cold ground, her one regret is having fled her home. In the afterlife, she returns to terrorize the woman who has taken her
place. When I first read it, as a teenager, the moral of the story was obvious. Bad things happen to women who break with
tradition, who rebel, who run away. The Southern woman’s place was in the kitchen, preferably in a single-family home on a
quiet street of a sleepy suburb. She was only to emerge for a quick trip to the grocery store. Revisiting the novel this week,
as a young adult, my opinion hasn’t changed. Despite this, I appreciate Carlisle’s mastery. The Gothic novel faithfully depicts
a highly structured society of the sort I longed to break free from. I feared I’d be trapped in my hometown forever or when
the time came, I’d be too afraid to leave—or worse, having left and tasted freedom, I’d fight my way back.
Sweet Adelaide serves as a portal, should we, as a collective, want to revisit and reckon with the ghosts of our past . . .
Mathis Taylor
Thanks for the warm welcome. This Brit appreciates it.
We’ve been having a lovely time ransacking your city.
This morning, we had the privilege of touring Hemingway’s home.
The typewriters shamed me. Consider the tools of our trade.
These days I rely on a Mac laptop, a notebook full of half-baked ideas, and a cup of tea.
I also draw from an inexhaustible well of childhood trauma, irrational fears, and contradictory emotions.
The exploration of those fears is what compels me to return to my writing desk.
Before we delve into all that, I would be remiss not to plug my latest release, The Beasts at the Gate . . .
Ayesha Eze Grant
I’ll confess. I wanted so badly to impress you, all of you, that I risked losing the chance to connect. Which is tragic considering
connection is what I’ve longed for my whole life. Indulge me, please, as I set aside my carefully prepared remarks and share
something a bit more personal.
My first novella, “A Hole in the Sky,” is the story of a girl living under occupation, who cannot safely leave her home. Her
only escape from her hypervigilant family, as the title suggests, perhaps too literally, is through a hole in the sky, a doorway
to paradise.
I had no intention of bringing up an unpublished novella today. However, I wrote that piece one autumn when, briefly, I shared
a New York apartment with Victoria Paraíso and July Levy Jones, who are sitting right over there. And like my young character,
I, too, sought to break away from my loving but overbearing family. Briefly, that apartment became my portal to another, more
playful and colorful world for as long as it lasted . . .