The Muse Online - Archives

October - December 2003
Book Club Spotlight: The G.R.I.T.S
and The GRITS Kidz Websites

The genesis of any book club with certain rules to order and to further adhere to a mission statement would be well along the lines of success. Successful book clubs and online reading groups based on the aforementioned seem to be all the rage at the rate that they're cropping up in cyberspace nowadays. Suffice it to say, the only rule in my opinion, would be that the members share a love of reading, have a desire to discuss books, and incorporate ways in which book clubs can go yet another level to make them appreciative in all areas of the AA community. There's one online book club that stand out, and have made it their business to not only be interactive, but to continue to conduct a club where the fun of reading is still apropos in spreading AA literature. The GRITS Online Reading Club welcomes you....

The G.R.I.T.S., an acronym for Guys/Girls Raised In The South, is an online literary club for men and women who love reading and discussing classic and contemporary African American Literature! This club began January 1, 2000, and continues to provide its member and visitors to its website with book reviews, author interviews, literary information and purchasing information to some of the best African American literature written yesterday and today! I had a chance to talk to co-founder and present Moderator, Marlive Harris as we conversed about this group and the passions that propel her in her many literary quests:

ACR: How, exactly, and why did the GRITS form as a book club? Explain if you will those early days!

MH: The idea of starting The G.R.I.T.S. Online Reading Club came about while talking to my friend, founder and former club manager, Portia Dowell-Simmons. She is an avid reader of contemporary AA Literature and wanted very much to talk about books written by E. Lynn Harris, Eric Jerome Dickey and others with me one day. Well, we had a bit of a problem because I had no idea who those authors were at that time! LOL --The look of shock on her face when I told her that I had no clue who those folks were, was priceless! But, it also made me stop and think about what exactly was I missing. At the time, I was reading mainly children & teen literature because of my job as a school librarian. And when I did read adult Literature it was always AA classics by authors during the Harlem Renaissance and The Age of Wright! So the challenge to add contemporary AA Literature to my reading repertoire was definitely on! While actually eating a bowl of grits one morning, the inspiration to create an online book club came about. I knew asking Portia to join me in this endeavor was a sure thing. So on January 1, 2000, we created a MSN Community Book Club called, Portia's Old Fashion G.R.I.T.S. Reading Club.

After six months of minimal success, we decided to spread our wings and push for more exposure. So on the advice of friend, Ron Kavanaugh, of Mosiacbooks.com, we purchased our domain name, created a website with the help of web developer, Tyora Moody (of Tywebbin Creations, AAKultureZone , and DOEnetwork) and became what is known today as The G.R.I.T.S. (Guys/Girls Raised In The South) Online Reading Club! Becoming a dot-com and listing our club's website with Mosaicbooks was the best move we could have ever made. The exposure has been wonderful! Not only have we met some fascinating people and created some long lasting friendships . . . but we have gained the respect of many in the literary world over the years. Due to the demands of her job, Portia, passed her role of club manager over to the capable hands of Loretta (aNN) Brown (aka, MsLo), who has been managing this club with me for the past two years.

ACR: You've said on several occasions that The GRITS is a readers' club. Please elaborate.

MH: Yes, TheGRITS.com is definitely a readers' book club! In fact we have two online groups at this time. Our main club is by invitation only and consist of men and women who love reading contemporary and classic AA Lit . . . and discussing ALL things literary in between. There is a constant flow of literary news such as book reviews, author interviews, press releases, literary events, book promotions/contests, book TV and book Internet radio information shared regularly with everyone. The success of the main club has been due to all members "actively" participating in book-of-the-month polls, email discussions, online chats with authors, hosting a monthly reading theme and sharing personal thoughts about books with one another. Our second book club , which is not bound by any of the guidelines and rules of our main club, is open to authors, publicist, agents and all readers who are wanting to be kept abreast of general book information and who just want a place to talk about literary events going on in their local communities if they desire.

ACR: I would imagine that there were many unseen forces and 2nd parties involved. What was the genesis of the idea of The Gathering, and how did you pull it toghether so successfully?

MH: When our group celebrated its 2nd anniversary, some of our members talked about how wonderful it would be for us to meet and have a real celebration where we finally get to connect faces to all those email addresses and online monikers that we use. But most of all, they wanted to be able to share their love and passion for books in a face-to-face setting. Well, I thought that was an excellent idea and from that came - The GRITS.com presents "Steppin' Out of Cyberspace" Literary Gathering which was held in Dallas, Texas, August 1-3, 2003. Now I must admit that once I realized that my club members were actually coming to Dallas and that the whole responsibility of planning this event was solely on my shoulders (because I am the only club member in Dallas), anxiety kicked in -- LOL! For the first couple of months after the date of this event was confirmed, I would lay awake at night wondering what I was going to do with these folks once they got here. Well, I had a full year to figure it out and believe me when I say that I had a blast pulling it all together! The best part, which is the most important part of all, was seeing personal friends, authors, publishers, publicists, literary organizations and independent companies come together to assist me in making the GRITS Gathering a wonderful success and a true book lover's weekend for my members and invited guests!

ACR: In your "real life," you are a librarian and come in contact with lots of people. Please talk about how the skills and strengths you've gained from that position are applied to The GRITS? How do they lend themselves to your running one of the most popular book clubs in the country?

ACR: How does The GRITS give back to the community? Please talk about some of the things the book club accomplishes, or hope to accomplish outside of its normal book reading activities?

MH: Our book club is involved in its first service project ever -- a children's book drive! November 17-23, 2003 is National Children Book Week and our book club is donating books to the kids in the Read Columbus Read program! During our literary event, we ran 4 separate $1 raffles (Friday & Saturday evenings) with books donated to our event to raise money to buy books for the kids in this program. I'm happy to announce that our raffles generated a total of $100 toward the purchase of books. By us spreading the word, other organizations (GRITS Kidz Book Club), bookstores, (Black Images) and individuals are donating books to Read Columbus Read, Inc. as well! So if you are interested in joining us in this book drive, please contact me at clubmanagers@thegrits.com for more information! The GRITS also gives back to the community by supporting literary events and buying books from independent black book sellers! All of the books featured on our website each month are linked directly to Black Images Book Bazaar in Dallas, TX (and those books archived in other places on our website are in the process of being re-linked as well).

ACR: What's in the future for you and The GRITS?

MH: To continue promoting African American Literature in every possible way that I can -- be it via our website, our online book discussion groups or literary events!