Residency Tour

The Maya Angelou Suite Needs an Upgrade

The Writer’s Colony consists of two buildings containing eight suites for residency fellows. My building is connected to the main building and was once a bed and breakfast. I’m staying in the Maya Angelou Suite and the other suite is called Culinary. Off the side and underneath our suites is the Langston Hughes Suite.

Down the road, building 505 houses the remaining suites. One suite is named Zeke Taylor and there are other suites named after local and national writers. I don’t remember them all. But each suite is different and that’s what raised my eyebrow.

It was Thursday night, August 17th, after the POET LUCK reading. The guests had left and those in the main building were cleaning up or talking. Victoria and I left to head back to our respective suites. Victoria decided she wanted to see the other suites.

We stopped at my building and went next door to the Culinary Suite. Victoria knocked on the door and I was chagrined as I didn’t want to disturb Katherine who was in the suite. Katherine answered the door in her Mickey Mouse pajamas and Victoria barged right in. I reluctantly followed behind her.

Katherine was surprised by our unannounced visit but welcomed us into her suite. And what a suite! My jaw dropped! Katherime’s suite was magnificent! It had a spacious living room, writing space, and a huge kitchen (and I do mean HUGE). The kitchen had all the amenities — a dishwasher, cabinets full of dishes, a large oven, a washer and dryer unit, etc. There were several bookcases and a large bedroom. The back porch had a grill and plenty of space to hold a gathering.

The room had not one, but two skylights. There were huge fans for ventilation. Plenty of writing space, a separate writing area, and additional tables in the kitchen and living room. The artwork on the wall was very modern. I know Culinary is geared towards food writers and such, but I felt that my suite needed a serious upgrade.

All three of us descended to the Langston Hughes suite and it was also very nice. The writer, an art curator, had been working all day on her book. She hadn’t attended poet luck or the readings. She was also in her night clothes, wearing a floral kimono and linen pants. She was happy to see us and allowed us entry.

The Langston Hughes Suite was definitely better than Maya Angelou”s. I was feeling some type of way. The suite also came with a full kitchen, a large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and an ornately decorated fireplace. The back porch was the only downer. It was very small with a single chair. But the suite was definitely sweet. At this point, I was getting angry.

The other house has the remaining suites. There are five suites. It is a large building with an upstairs and downstairs, a full-size kitchen, a separate dining room, a full-size living room, and a den. The back porch is spacious as well. The kitchen appliances aren’t as up-to-date as in the Culinary suite but there is a standard refrigerator in the kitchen.

Maya Angelou’s Suite deserves more amenities. I don’t have a sink to wash my dishes! The artwork is sparse. There should be more pictures on the wall. The bookcase has only one shelf of Angelou’s works. It needs more! The sponsors of the suite can do more for the space. Maya Angelou needs to be honored!

I will definitely let the colony administrators know my feelings and hope they take my suggestions into consideration.