 
Black Issues
May - June 2004
Sojourn
Room at the Inn for Writers
A D.C. bed-and-breakfast not only caters to booklovers
as paying guests, but runs a free writer-in-residence
program.
By A'Lelia Bundles
The Akwaaba D.C., the third bed-and-breakfast operated
by Monique Greenwood, is a booklover's paradise and
a writer's haven. The five-story, 1920s brownstone-conveniently
located near Dupont Circle, in sight of the White House
and within walking distance of U Street's historic
African American enclave-boasts eight guest rooms inspired
by black authors from an array of literary genres.
Book club members gather by the fireplace in the antique-filled
parlor to hear writers discuss their latest books. At
breakfast, over friend apples, sausage and other hearty
fare, guests are likely to begin their day hearing
of works in progress from an Akwaaba writer-in-residence.
Akwaaba, which means "welcome" and comes from the
language spoken by the Akan people of Ghana, personifies
Greenwood's blend of casual warmth and accommodating
hospitality. Greenwood, former editor-in-chief
of Essence magazine and a veteran of other publications,
continues to operate both Akwaaba Mansion in Stuyvesant
Heights, Brooklyn, New York and Akwaaba by the Sea
in Cape May, New Jersey, with her husband, Glenn Pogue.
Greenwood is a native Washingtonian and the author
of Having What Matters: The Black Woman's Guide
to Creating the Life You Really Want (William Morrow;
December 2001). She also co-wrote The Go on
Girl! Book Club Guide for Reading Groups with Lynda
Johnson and Tracy Mitchell-Brown (Little, Brown and
Company, April 1999).
As Greenwood leads a visitor past Gilbert Fletcher's "Painted
Voices" collection of multimedia portraits of African
American authors (see BIBR, EYE, May-June 2003), then
up the invitingly creaky stairs, she proudly describes
the guest rooms where an overnight stay ranges from
$150 (in the African themed Toni Morrison and futuristic
sci-fi rooms) to $190 (in the Zora Neale Hurston
and Langston Hughes suites).
The Hurston Suite is appropriately bold with garnet-red
walls and an antique brass bed. The Hughes Suite-with
its cocoa and avocado walls and heavy, dark furniture-evokes
scenes from The Big Sea, the autobiography that
describes his travels to Cuba, France and Harlem.
Each room, from the mysterious midnight blue walls
and black velvet curtains of the Walter Mosely Room
to the heavenly, cloudlike etherealness of the Inspiration
Suite, is stocked with books that match the mood. Candles
and more candles flicker against the deep-burgundy
velvet of the Romance Room. The Poetry Suite
– with Rita Dove and Saul Williams poems inscribed
on the walls above two queen-sized beds – is a slumber-party
scene ready for book club members to flock to Akwaaba.
But it is the writer's getaway in the basement that
promises to create a buzz and leave a lasting legacy. In
the "room of one's own," about which most writers fantasize,
Akwaaba offers a Caribbean-inspired escape with a separate
entrance, king sized bed, pots and pans and high speed
Internet connection. Writers can apply to be
selected for a two-week stay at no cost.
As an author herself, Greenwood is only too aware
that solitude remains scarce even for many established
writers. But
with so many people writing books, she developed guidelines
for Akwaaba retreat applicants. "To qualify you
either have to be a writer with a contract or a self-published
author who has published before," she says. Unpublished
authors can also compete for a chance to use the writer's
retreat.
"Monique is a community builder who is providing what
every author needs: a safe comfortable haven
where a writer's only concern is to create," says Janet
Hill, vice president and executive editor of Doubleday/Harlem
Moon, who has edited several of the books displayed
throughout the inn.
Yanick Rice Lamb, a journalist, author and news-sequence
coordinator at Howard University's School of Communications,
became Akwaaba D.C.'s first official writer-in-residence
in November 2003. She was working on a soon to
be published biography Born to Win: The Althea Gibson
Story, scheduled for August 2004 by Wiley. She
has previously published Spirit of African Design with
Denys Davis and Sharne Algotsson, (Clarkson Potter,
August 1996); and she is also writing a book on bid
whist called Rise & Fly (Crown) also due
out in 2004.
"What Monique is doing now is really a gift and blessing
for writers," says Lamb, who was editorial director
for Heart & Soul and BET weekend
magazines and has been editor at the New York Times and
other publications.
Patrik Henry Bass, book editor for Essence magazine,
is also a frequent guest of the inn. He is author
of Like a Mighty Stream: The March on Washington,
August 28, 1963, (Running Press, October 2002) and
co-author of In Our Own Image: Treasured African-American
Traditions, Journeys & Icons (Running Press, November
2001). Bass praised Greenwood's role in encouraging
reading. "As president of the Go on Girl! Book
Club, she saw first the passion that black women had
for books," say Bass. "And she was adamant that
we support black bookstores and booksellers."
The inn also hosts an author series featuring discussions
with favorite writers. Greenwood expects her
guests to be a mix of business travelers, couples,
single women and book club groups.
"The idea of B&Bs is a pretty new one to us as
African Americans," say Greenwood. "Most of my
guests are first time inn-goers. So part of my
job is to make their first experience great."
When they go out for dinner, we run their bath," says
Greenwood, who has spent at least one night in each
room so that she can be even more attuned to her guests'
desires. "When they return, the candles are lit. The
bed is turned down. The music is playing. So
everything is very, very high touch."
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