Traumatic Possessions: The Body and Memory in African American Women's Writing and Performance

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I started thinking more concretely about this acknowledgments section as the 2:34 p.m. train left Grand Central one Tuesday afternoon in late January ‘09. The early research for this study occurred during another period of Metro North commuting when I attended the CUNY Graduate Center as a doctoral candidate in English. I begin, then, by thanking my friends and mentors at the Grad Center, most especially Meena Alexander, who served as midwife (her words) to my early development as a scholar and who continues to serve as my model for leading a life devoted to the pursuit of intellectual, creative, and social-justice-related truths. My dear friend Wendy Ryden has provided more intellectual and emotional sustenance than I can account for here, and I am grateful for her supportive friendship during this process. Kathy Cooke and Dave Valone have kept me focused in moments of doubt and energized when I thought it all impossible. I wish also to thank Jill Dolan, Norman Kelvin, Sondra Perl, and Neal Tolchin for their guidance and constructive feedback along the way. My experience with the University of Virginia Press was fruitful and seamless thanks to the professionalism of Cathie Brettschneider, and I wish to express my appreciation for her efforts here as well. Although the train remains the same, the commute now involves a different destination. When I arrive at New York Institute of Technology’s Manhattan campus at 1855 Broadway, I am greeted daily by an amazingly diverse and exciting group of students and colleagues. I would like to express my gratitude to my students and colleagues in the NYIT x / acknowledgments English Department, especially to Kathy Williams and Michael Schiavi, who have provided considerable support as I faced the challenges of balancing tenure-track responsibilities with my dedication to this project. The life at the other end of the Metro North line provides the primary motivation for all good things I do in this life. My family—particularly my mother, Carole Scillia; my sister, Carolyne Cebrian; my great-aunt Margaret Doolan; my father, Tom Griffiths; and the Suntags—has made it possible for me to immerse myself in an extensive study of traumatic legacies without feeling isolated or overwhelmed. I am most deeply grateful to the two individuals who have given me the greatest sense of connection to life’s larger purpose, my son, Rody James Conway, and my daughter, Helaine Margaret Griffiths. They have been so patient at the New Haven end of the train line, and this book is dedicated to them. An earlier version of chapter 3 was published in Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies. Chapter 4 is a revision of an essay that first appeared in Studies in the Novel. I thank both journals for their cooperation in allowing me to include revised versions of these pieces in Traumatic Possessions. ...