Today we are shining the spotlight on Kerina Pharr, a writer who first attended the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival in 2010. She read from her short story “Subtle and Underneath” at the Festival and had quite a wonderful experience there.
Pharr was first encouraged to come to the Festival when she met our own Heidi Durrow, during Durrow’s book tour of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. She was so inspired by Durrow that in one weekend, Pharr sat down and wrote out a short story to submit in just one weekend. Thank goodness that she did, too, because at the Festival, Pharr discovered a feeling of community and the “shared experience of living your life between the lines of race and culture.” Not only that, but Pharr found the atmosphere to be “warm, loving, and encouraging,” and one of “acceptance and validation.”
Last we heard from her, Pharr was busy busy busy!! (Hopefully not too busy, though. The next Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival is fast approaching!) Her short story “Waning of the Sanguine Humor” was published in an issue of an online magazine. http://writefromwrong.com/2010/10/14/fiction-october/ Also, she has been working on her first book, City Upon a Hill; our last update was 80,000 words and counting! Pharr has also set up a website, so to learn more about her experiences with becoming a writer, check it out at www.kerinapharr.com .
Thank you, Kerina Pharr, for sharing your experiences and insight with us. I hope that all who attend the Festival are able to take from it what you did, and to experience “a feeling of ‘I’m home.’”
