Lyndsey Ellis in conversation with Mary McLaughlin Slechta
great weather for MEDIA welcomes Lyndsey Ellis to our prose editorial team.
Lyndsey Ellis is a fiction writer and essayist who's passionate about intergenerational resilience in the Midwest. She was a recipient of the San Francisco Foundation’s Joseph Henry Jackson Literary Award in 2016 and the Money For Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund in 2018 for her fiction. Ellis is a 2017 alumna of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, a VONA/Voices alumna and Kimbilio Fiction Fellow. Her writing appears in The Offing, Joyland, Entropy, Shondaland, and elsewhere. She currently lives in St. Louis, MO. Her debut novel, Bone Broth, will be published by Hidden Timber Books in spring 2021.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta: Hi Lyndsey. And on behalf of the press, I welcome you as the newest editor at great weather for MEDIA. Four of us live in the New York City region, I'm from upstate New York, and you're bringing a fresh voice and perspective from St. Louis. What should people know about the writing scene in your neck of the woods?
Lyndsey Ellis: Hi Mary. I appreciate the warm welcome from you and the great weather for MEDIA team. It’s an honor to be part of this publication and to celebrate literature which is something I’m always open to. Before the pandemic, I was hoping to get out to New York and explore. Fingers crossed it’s something I can put on the future travel plans because I’m always hearing about the vibrant literary scene and its respected history there.
The writing scene in St. Louis is small but lively. I’m still learning much of it because I just moved back here from the Bay Area in 2018. When I left (and largely why I left), there wasn’t really a scene for writers, although history shows that many writers came from, or wrote about, the area. St. Louis is very much a music city—jazz, blues, gospel, you name it. I’ve felt there’s also always been a place for visual artists too, but in terms of celebrating the literary arts, that’s all still kind of new and fresh, with respect to several longstanding publications here. I’m glad I returned to see more of an appreciation for writing.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta: Speaking of the Midwest, congratulations on your non-fiction piece in Black in the Middle: An Anthology of the Black Midwest (Belt Publishing, edited by Terrion L. Williamson) which came out this September. It's a terrific project and I love the expression “Fresh Coast,” coined by Matt Nelson and used in the anthology’s forward by Jamala Rogers. Can you tell us about being part of the Fresh Coast?
Lyndsey Ellis: Thanks! I love that the Midwest has been coined the Fresh Coast too. There’s so many pockets of the Midwest and it’s so multifaceted. Many people outside of this region don’t know this because that’s not what’s usually portrayed in the media. Some still think the Midwest is synonymous with corn stalks, rural life, docility, and white people. Although those things may exist in some areas, the Midwest is also home to numerous communities of color who reside in cities with strong cultural landscapes. Black in the Middle helps shatter the stereotypes by showcasing the experiences of Blacks who live, or have roots, in the Midwest. It’s a beautiful thing.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta: Congratulations once more on your novel Bone Broth (Hidden Timber Books) coming out in spring of 2021. You have expressed your passion, from a young age both to honor and to explore “The intergenerational struggles and resiliency” in the Midwest. Who were these extraordinary elders in your life who planted that precious seed in your heart? And please share a little of how the novel's story came about?
Lyndsey Ellis: Yes, thank you for shouting out this upcoming novel. It has truly been a labor of love and something so dear to me. It means a lot to finally get Bone Broth out into the world. I grew up in a family of musicians (maternal side) and orators (both sides). If folks weren’t telling a story with their songs or their instruments, they were telling stories with their words. So, from an early age, I learned to appreciate these rich stories being passed down from the elders—parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, neighborhood pillars, etc—to the youth. Even now, that is the most precious thing to me. Because, in the Black community, our stories are often our wealth, our legacies. I’ll take an evening of sitting around the dinner table with family and listening to stories that speak to the experiences of our elders over a night out on the town any day.
In terms of Bone Broth, I had been developing the novel since grad school, over twelve years ago. I knew I wanted to pay homage to the elders in my community, which is why the story centers on a widow in her golden years. I also wanted to honor pieces of the rich, and often untold, history of activism in St. Louis.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta: We met as Kimbilio fellows in the summer of 2019. For readers who don't know about Kimbilio, Swahili for “safe haven,” it's a community of writers from the African Diaspora and a visionary project of writer David Haynes operated through SMU. How has being a Kimbilio fellow impacted your life and work?
Lyndsey Ellis: The Kimbilio writing community has had—and still has—a tremendous impact on my life as a Black writer. Blessings to David for his vision! From the moment you step foot onto the campus in Taos, New Mexico to the time you leave, it’s a journey that you’re grateful you were able to take. Just being able to share work with other Black writers from across the country and around the world without interference from what I think Toni Morrison described best as the “white gaze,” does wonders for the soul. Among getting to know other writers, I enjoyed connecting with you and feel like we instantly hit it off, in workshop and the casita we were housed in. Very excited to see more of your work in the near future.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta: Thank you for that, Lyndsey. The feeling is mutual. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Perhaps something you wish I'd asked?
Lyndsey Ellis: I just want to add that I hope all creatives are taking time out for themselves and their craft during these turbulent times. Be well and keep fighting through your work. Onward.