Introducing Indigo Bethea

Editor's Note: Indigo Bethea is a talented individual who has work that should be seen and a voice that should be heard. Here, at VenusSings.com - and at RezaRitesRi.com - we are creating room for those things to be done. Read about Bethea below, and check back all month long to get special access to poetry that will be part of her forthcoming volume of work. - Reza Rites

PROVIDENCE, RI - Believe me when I tell you I have been expressing myself creatively ever sense I got my first pack of crayons. Of course at that time my art--an unauthorized crayon mural across my bedroom wall--was received with a solid spanking! An early lesson in the pain of criticism! It wasn't until I got to Junior High School, or whatever you folks call it nowadays, that I really began writing poetry. In High School, my writing began to take on its own voice and expanded to prose. And joyfully, the satisfaction I got from writing, painting, dancing, and performing--which blossomed during my college years--continues on to this day. Would you believe I am only just reaching a place of being able to characterize my work? The voices I use, whether in painting or in writing, varies. However what is consistent is that they are honest, probing, intense, spiritually grounded, whimsical at times, and drawn from the bedrock of African Diasporic traditions. When not in artistic mode, I have been accused of being a Cultural Anthropologist and adjunct professor at various local colleges and universities. I am pleased to announce two forthcoming publications: “But Beautiful”—Reflections on Love and Loss, a poetic volume, and The Story of Frizzy Hair; a children’s book.