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Phill Boogie
For the past thirteen years, or so, I've worked as journalist, marketing executive, essayist, producer and flunkie. Former publications include Black Meetings & Tourism, Sister 2 Sister and most notably the National Enquirer. Yes, I went through trash, crashed weddings and on occasion, spotted UFOs.
Deciding to not permanently damage any chance of having the career that I moved to Los Angeles for, I left the tabloid for creative pursuits. We all know that you can't eat off of dreams; "Fame costs." So, while writing and attending American Film Institute, I held various positions from the mundane - answering phones; to the ridiculous - being Sheryl Lee Ralph's personal assistant.
I've always had a gift for promotion. I have used that skill to carve out a pretty respectable career in entertainment brand marketing. I did the executive thing and ran an agency. It killed my creative spirit. I quit. Most recently, I consulted on various high profile productions, creating brand partnerships. I worked in my pajamas, it was great; though the economy and writers' strike almost forced me back to the fluorescent lights of an office.
Instead, I decided to change my life. I packed up, sold my my excess junk on craigslist and drove back east to spend time with my father who had been ailing and to just take a breath. Being in the middle of the madness can make it hard to create. I love acdemia and since I was going to be in Hampton for a while, I asked H.U if they could make room for little old me. They did. Now, I am an English/Cinema studies professor. I'm getting to do something I love, at a place I love.
Life is good.
When I'm not working, writing and performing, I sleep.
Randy Bandit
Ran Walker is a graduate of Morehouse College. He earned an MS in Publishing from Pace University and a JD from George Washington University Law School. He has worked in magazine and book publishing, practiced law, and is presently an assistant professor of English at Hampton University, where he teaches creative writing.
He is a recipient of the Mississippi Arts Commission/National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Creative Nonfiction in 2005 and also received an artist mini-grant from the commission in 2006. In addition, he has served as Writer-In-Residence for the All Write! Initiative based out of Jackson, Mississippi, and conducted two readings for the Mississippi Museum of the Arts as a part of the Unhidden Treasures program. He is a past participant in the Hurston-Wright Writers Week Workshop of 2006 and the Callaloo Writers Workshop for 2010.
When he is not writing, he is reading, bowling, and composing music for his virtual band, Groovault.
