Novel Transcript Reading: Ghetto Bastard, by Russell Vann

Performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss

http://ghettobastard.com/

Get to know the writer:

 1. What is your novel about?

Ghetto Bastard is a story of survival. Malik was born into these circumstances–with no father to teach him how to be a man, and to a mother who didn’t want him. Malik must navigate his way to adulthood with only the streets as his guide–through the seventies heroin infestation, the eighties crack rage, and the nineties Clinton mass incarceration era, and AIDS epidemic.

Once he becomes a man, his vision broadens, but will it be enough to abandon the very ghetto that created him?

Ghetto Bastard is the intimate journey of an innocent child in search of love and self-worth. He just wants what we all want. And Malik Russell wasn’t born with any ‘quit’, so he’s got that going for him, but neither was his opponent: the ghetto.

2. What genres would you say this story is in?

Memoir and Biography.

3. How would you describe this story in two words?

Hard, truthful.

4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Across 110th Street.

5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

The Greatest Love of All by George Benson.

6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.

7. What motivated you to write this story?

My life and great grandmother has been the inspiration for my work.

8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

My great grandfather because he passed away without me knowing him.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Protecting and advocating for societies devalued people.

10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I was influenced to enter to get my story performed because the written word that becomes the spoken word is a treasure to the blind. I wanted my work to be enjoyed by all people who wish to enjoy it.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Don’t be afraid because fear will prevent you from maximizing your full potential.

Producer: Matthew Toffolo – http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Matthew Toffolo

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox