In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

In a 1973 interview, Walker states that she is more religious in her poetry than in her fiction-writing. What do you think that she means by this? What is different about her process of writing fiction and writing poetry, as she talks about it in this interview?

These essays show Walker, over a period of years, leaving the South, returning to it, then leaving it again. What about the South is difficult for her? What about it attracts her?

Walker discusses the problem of “colorism” in the black community in her essay “If the Present Looks Like the Past, What Does the Future Look Like?”What does the term mean, and what are some reasons why this is such a complicated issue?

In her essay “One Child of One’s Own: A Meaningful Digression within the Work(s),” Walker addresses coming to terms with being an artist and a single mother. What does this acceptance involve? How does Walker come to understand her role as a mother and an artist? 

In her essay “My Father’s Country is the Poor,” Walker writes about her complex reaction to Cuban socialism. What does she admire about the Cuban socialist way of life, and what does she find problematic? What do you think is meant by the title of the essay?

Walker’s essay “Breaking the Chains and Encouraging Life” begins with four anecdotes from Walker’s own life. How do you think that these anecdotes relate to the rest of the essay, and what picture do they give of the role of gay women in the black community? 

“Lulls” involves Walker visiting old friends, neighbors, and teachers in the South, she herself having moved up North to Brooklyn. What picture do these visits provide of the situation of African-Americans in the South? Do you think that the visits cause Walker to regret her own move up North? Why or why not? 

In “Looking for Zora,” Walker visits Zora Neale Hurston’s old hometown, locating old friends and acquaintances of the writer’s, and tries to unsuccessfully locate Hurston’s unmarked grave. By the end of the essay, what sort of understanding do you think Walker comes to,? Would you call the visit a successful or an unsuccessful one?