Tales of 3 generations of Black women intertwine to form ‘Memphis’

Home

The Modern Law Library

Tales of 3 generations of Black women intertwine…

The Modern Law Library Tales of 3 generations of Black women intertwine to form 'Memphis'

By Julianne Hill

September 27, 2023, 8:40 am CDT

•  
• !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs'); Tweet  
• lang: en_US  
• reddit_target='law';  
• 

Admittedly, Tara M. Stringfellow became an attorney simply because her first book of poetry didn’t sell and she needed an income. But after a few years at Crown Castle in Chicago doing family and real estate law, she left, heading straight to the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at Northwestern University to get back into the writing game—this time with a lawyer’s sharpened pencil.

In this episode of The Modern Law Library podcast, the ABA Journal’s Julianne Hill talks to Stringfellow, author of Memphis.

They talk about how her lawyerly research techniques prepared her to dig into her family’s history to develop characters in this novel focused on three generations of Black women and spanning seven decades. She also discusses the inspiration found in The Color Purple and her desire to create more stories focused on Black women.

Stringfellow also shares how the storytelling techniques of building an argument, learned in law school, now shapes her creative work and how being an attorney has impacted her relationships with agents and publishers.

Want to listen on the go? The Modern Law Library is available on several podcast listening services. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Apple | Spotify | Google Play

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

// In This Podcast:

Tara M. Stringfellow. Photo by Matthew F. Thomas.

Tara M. Stringfellow is a poet, a former attorney, a Master of Fine Arts graduate of Northwestern University and a semifinalist for the Fulbright Program fellowship. She has written for Collective Unrest, Minerva Rising, Jet Fuel Review, WomensArts Quarterly Journal and Apogee Journal, among other publications. After having lived in Okinawa; Ghana; Chicago; Cuba; Spain; Italy; and Washington, D.C., she moved back home to Memphis, Tennessee, where she sits on her porch swing every evening with her hound, Huckleberry, listening to records and chatting with neighbors.

Related topics: States | Illinois | Tennessee | Careers | Diversity | Women in the Law | Career & Practice | ABA Journal Podcast | The Modern Law Library | Legal Writing | Attorneys of Color You might also like:

• ABA president announces Martin Scorsese, Dolores Huerta to join new speaker series
• Former law school dean, known for ensuring 'people were treated equitably,' dies after attending university event
• 'I feel proud of myself that I stood up,' law prof says after $750K bias settlement is approved
• Former BigLaw partner temporarily barred from courthouse should be suspended, board says
• Onetime SCOTUS contender sues judicial conduct commission, alleging bid to stifle criticism

Give us feedback, share a story tip or update, or report an error.