Notes from a Black Woman's Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins by Kathleen Collins

Notes from a Black Woman's Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins Reviews

• 
  chantel nouseforaname

  There is so much wrapped up in the soul of Kathleen Collins. I love how unafraid she was. She’s unafraid of passion, sex, love, healing, etc. I love how much she rests in her own honesty, even when it’s uncomfortable to read. She worked through so much of her thoughts and inner world through her writing. Touching on her role as a mother, a human being, a woman outside of motherhood, and a protector of her children — she goes deep on it all. Best of which is explored through her letters.
  
  Compiled by her daughter, Kathleen Collins’ letters were the most insightful and my favourite part of this book. I feel like it spoke to the heart of her interactions and the truths she wished to share with others. The opening by Danielle Evans, writer of The Office of Historical Corrections, reflects just how skilled Kathleen Collins is at reflecting human interiority.
  
  The format of this book made it challenging to read to me, but the Screenplays towards the end are better experienced. I went and watched Losing Ground and it was amazing.
• 
  Ella

  Ever since reading the collection of short stories,
  Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?, I've been pretty eager to read anything else about or by Kathleen Collins, so I was thrilled to learn that her daughter had compiled this smattering of letters, diary entries, short stories, plays and film scripts. Kathleen Collins was a stellar writer and thinker. Reading her words shows a woman in consistent search of ... almost everything -- a more authentic self, humor and wit, serious and sharp, but generous in spirit. It also shows a cultural commenter of the highest caliber.
  
  I'm not the only person yearning for more of Kathleen Collins' work. Nearly every review I read had some version of this included "For those under Collins’s spell, our plaint will always be the same: more. Give us more — more letters, more diary entries, more careful curation of the work. What we really want for her is more life. And more art, because what we have — even when raw, unfinished or this carelessly presented — is dazzling." (Parul Sehgal, NYTimes Book Review, 28 Jan 2019)
  
  It's easy to feel that way because we've been told that there is, in fact, more. We've had 16 dazzling stories and now this collection. I'm not entirely sure what to call it. It feels a bit strange to read personal letters, one-act plays and a full film script in a sort of mash-up, but I keep thinking of this as a mixtape of sorts. As such, it's a tad uneven. Collins' daughter Nina did something smart, I think, in leaving her mother's words exactly as she found them - weird capitalizations, constant ellipses and all. What I don't really understand about this collection is why things were chosen or left out and, other than the form, why they are in this order or included at all, what might have been left on the cutting room floor, so to speak? Nina Collins says in the introduction that she can trace the arc of her mother in the work, but I couldn't find that arc in this collection. I don't believe that is the fault of the writing. It's more a failure of this collection. I would have liked more context all the way through. It's a bit hard to figure out whether this will be it for the duration, or whether this is a bit of an amuse-bouche. Nina Collins apparently had not considered publishing any of her mother's work - she didn't see the worth, despite a literary background, until another publisher contacted her (thankfully!)
  
  I hope scholars will write about her work because there is so much here, and I'm not equipped to explain or criticize. There is sharp social critique that never devolves into dumb politics, real intellectual prowess, more than a dash of humor, pain, etc. The writing is experimental and eminently readable. Beyond all of that is a rather stunning portrait of humanity with all our problems and glory: creating, destroying, thinking, feeling, loving and connecting. I'd strongly recommend you start with the collection of short stories, but it's almost guaranteed that after those stories, you'll be wanting more.
  
• 
  Crystal

  The three short stories and novel fragments were a strong start, I enjoyed how frank they were, how unapologetic. The letters and diary/memoir were also interesting. It was the plays and screenplays where my interest waned because of the stage directions, they distracted me from the text when read aloud.
  
  This isn't a solid 5/5 like her short story collection Whatever Happened to Interracial Love but for those who want more Kathleen Collins it's worth a read.
• 
  Shelly Ibok

  This book was very disjointed to me. I don’t know if that’s because I listened on audio, or if it truly is that disjointed. However, it has many truly remarkable moments! I would recommend reading it instead of listening.
• 
  Stacie C

  Review to come. Actual rating 3.5 stars.
• 
  Ari

  IQ "There is no such thing as a helpless black woman [...]. There is no cultural conditioning, no unspoken expectation anywhere, that would allow me to believe I could afford to be helpless. The attitude of helplessness, of dependence, is foreign to me, based on assumptions that are alien to my upbringing. [...] I don't know how to be helpless. I don't know how not to make things work." ('Notes From A Black Woman's Diary', 48)
  
  I was unable to keep my mind from wandering while I read the screenplays, they're long and I think my mind isn't built to concentrate and visualize like that. However I do really want to watch 'Losing Ground'. It is also worth noting that I'd never read a screenplay before and many of the abbreviations and directors notes went over my head. I also ultimately would say I'm still glad the screenplays were included because they serve as yet another testament to how versatile a writer Collins was. This collection might also have one of my favorite intros of all time, I am eagerly awaiting Danielle Evans' next book/short story collection and she was the perfect choice to introduce this collection. Like many newfound fans I mourn this literary talent we lost too soon but am exceedingly grateful that we have been given the opportunity to rediscover her work and give her the appreciation she deserved in her lifetime. I am an unabashed Kathleen Collins fan and I hope we get to see more of her unpublished works and her unique characters; artsy bourgeoise intellectual Black women with vibrant love affairs.
  
  I was stunned by how deeply this resonated with me and also accurately summed up a feeling I'd had but never been able to express. "I have always liked to read memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, always been interested in the inner life. It is true that with age this habit is diminishing-as if, with age, my life is sufficient material unto itself an doesn't require any further comparison with other lives. But this is very recent. When I was younger I devoured them-indiscriminately-concerned, at first, only with the person's love life: the great love of their existence...how it turned out, what joy and sorrow it brought...I think i was preparing myself for a great love, storing up information on how to behave when it finally came along...[...] So when the 'love interest' subsided, I turned to memoirs for strength, just as if I were asking someone to show me, show me how to fight loneliness and anxiety and fear and insecurity." ('Notes From A Black Woman's Diary', 42-43). I think this also speaks to why I found her diary entries to be so captivating. And true to form they were by far my favorite section. The nosy person in me wanted more letters and diary entries along with the short stories ('The Reading' in this collection was great and I loved most of the stories in her previous book).
• 
  nvsblmnstr

  Do not let the title deceive you. It is not a book of diary entries, but an amalgamation of those and letters, short stories, plays, and screenplays. Very very very few notes are present. The short stories and diary entries are mainly stream of consciousness and serious wtf moments, and, unfortunately, I didn’t know what I was reading most of time. The letters are very personal and by far my favorite in this collection. Plays and screenplays are difficult for me to read; a visual medium is needed for me to fully enjoy the experience. Therefore, I have no real opinion about these sections. However it is safe to say that they are written with such verve that they held my attention easily enough. One play in particular (The Reading) was so good that I had goosebumps. The screenplay Losing Ground was developed into a movie in 1982 (in which Collins also directed) and I will definitely look for that. In the end I feel a sadness that the life of this creative force was cut short and she has somewhat been lost in obscurity. I hope you will all feel at least a little compelled to look up the life and work of Ms Collins.
• 
  Tara

  In 1981, Kathleen Collins became the first African-American woman in decades to write and direct a feature-length movie, Losing Ground. She died suddenly in 1988, aged just 46; and was largely forgotten until 2016, when her film was re-released. Also that year, a short story collection (Whatever Happened to Interracial Love) was published for the first time, garnering further claim, and it's there that I would advise new readers to start. 'Notes From a Black Woman's Diary', edited by Collins' daughter Nina, is more of a mixed bag: it starts strongly with 3 more stories, followed by a fascinating memoir of sorts, comprising of diary fragments spanning much of Collins' adult life, interspersed with her own commentary. The middle section consists of several plays and an unproduced screenplay. This section, on first reading at least, seems to lack something on the page. But the inclusion of her script for Losing Ground brings us back to Collins at her sparkling best.
• 
  Leslie Lehr

  Stunning. I got this book for research and ended up devouring the works and life of this forgotten writer. Later, I read her resume and found even more incredible accomplishments than ever mentioned. They inform her writing in quality only. Collins writes with poetic and true emotion about her relationships - from her own mother to her lovers and husbands and daughter - in her diaries, rarely touching on her work. Yet her work, from poems, to plays and screenplays - produced, real events, are infused with her intellect. I wish I'd known sho she was when I was young and she was still alive, but I am grateful to be aware of her work now. Many thanks to her daughter, an intellectual in her own right, for bringing this out into the world.
• 
  Denise Billings

  Continuing my Kathleen Collins binge. Edited by Collins daughter, Nina Lorez Collins, this collection of stories, novel excerpts, notes from a diary, letters, plays and screen plays, makes me sad that Kathleen died so young. She left us with a lot, but because she was so far ahead of her time, I can only imagine what wonders she'd have for us now.
  
  Again there was much I related to, particularly regarding relationshiops, and the interior lives of Black women. Collins really gets it and is able to put it on the page. All kinds of lives are explored and none involve ghetto poverty, just regular people living regular lives, feeling regular feelings. Each story sent me inside myself, recalling episodes from my past and present that needed more attention.
  
  Her daughter Nina shares some of the hundreds of letters her mother left behind. Expecially moving was one to Nina when she was seventeen. Kathleen describes finding herself, much like I found myself, the same process. Her relationship with Nina's father, which paralleled mine with my son's father. It must have been hard for Nina to read the letter from her mom when Kathleen was secretly dying from cancer. I can't imagine.
  
  The plays and screen plays will send me to You Tube to look for them and to return to her film "Losing Ground" to watch again with new eyes.
• 
  Samoyes

  Kathleen Collins has a unique way of inserting the visual in her stories while playing with structure. When I read her short story collection Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? I knew I had found a deeply imaginative and thoughtful author. This posthumous collection of her writings gives special insight into Collins’ work as a film director, author, mother and thinker. It contains three short stories, plays, and screenplays as well as letters to her daughter and journal entries. By reading this book I came to feel like I was really getting to know the many facets of this artist, and some were surprising. Throughout many of the pieces featured in this collection are psychics, the tarot, fortune tellers. And this made me think of a phrase that featured in her journal and screenplay: Death marks the end of living in the future. Or another phrase where she states that it is our disappointments that shape us the most. These simple phrases get at how deeply emotional her work is and also how much of living is in the imagining of what was and could be and the ways we try to exert control over this.
  
  This is a deeply beautiful and thoughtful work that shines an important light on a great artist.
• 
  Torrie Tovar

  I want to preface this to say that this had some great stories in it and the letters were really interesting. 
  
  It is a collected works so it's a little bit of everything.
  
  It has letters that she wrote, short stories, and also screen plays.
  
  I loved the letters and stories.
  
  I can't really say with the screen plays because I couldn't get lost in them. That means nothing about the quality of the work, they all seemed interesting. I just couldn't enjoy the format. But if you enjoy reading screen plays then you should pick up this collection for sure.
• 
  Brinda

  This book is filled with solid short stories, interesting personal letters, play scripts and screenplays. Unfortunately I am not imaginative enough to listen to (audiobook version) someone reading a screenplay and stay focused on the story. If you are, this book is amazing. If not, give it a try anyway, the screenplay is at the end.
• 
  Heather

  This book was kind of all over the place. I enjoyed the stories, letters and notes from her diary but the transitions between were nonexistent and quite jarring. It made this book difficult to enjoy in my opinion. I was not a big fan of the screenplays. I enjoy reading plays but I believe I would’ve only enjoyed watching these screenplays.
• 
  Gary Lee

  Another fantastic collection of Collins work. It's a bit uneven, compared to Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?, but there's still so much good stuff in here. Especially the novel excerpt and the screenplays.
• 
  Stacey

  4 ⭐️’s
  
  For the short stories, letters, unfinished novel and diary entries. I just couldn’t get through the plays and screenplays, because I hate reading them. I wish it had had more of the material I enjoyed!
• 
  🍥

  through reading this i'm not a huge fan of reading plays and screenplays but i really liked the short stories, novel excerpt, and diary notes. i also enjoyed the first play about the brothers but as i read on they started to drag a bit and i lost interest.
• 
  Tori

  This was a beautiful collection and left me aching for more- more words, more screenplays, more complex characters, more of Kathleen Collins
• 
  This Kooky Wildflower Loves a Little Tea and Books

  3/5
  
  Review to come
• 
  Brad

  All over the place. A great voice lost and impossible to reconstruct here.
• 
  Shà

  Interesting
• 
  croonjucie

  Loved the short stories, diary and letters. The plays felt a little tedious and scattered, but still good.
• 
  Rebecca

  Robin Miles, Bahni Turpin, and several other great narrators read the audiobook.
• 
  Tangled in Text

  I listened to this title and the first part was beautiful. The poetry read like a song and had a beautiful flow to it that had me listening to it twice. The first time I immediately was swept away in the flow and loved listening to the art it was as a symphony of words, but the second time I took the time to listen to the message and appreciate the passion behind the words.
  
  Notes from a Black Woman's Diary seemed to start off at the peak of Mt Everest and it slowly went down after the first few song. The narrator is superb though and even as I was growing disinterested in the subject matter, she had a rich, rhythmic voice and beautiful, powerful singing voice that was perfect for this book and had me finishing it.
  
  The part that lost me was it slowly became more technical as it matured into her showcasing her screenplays and started pointing out lighting and camera angles. I started focusing more on all the intricate details of her setting the scene than the scene itself.
  
  3.5