Q: What do you want people to know about you?
A: John was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He attended Erasmus Hall High School where he played string bass in the orchestra and varsity tennis. After graduation John went to Cornell University (Arts’69) and majored in biological sciences and minored in African American studies and creative writing. He attended the Weill Cornell Medical College and did a residency in ophthalmology at Harlem Hospital Center and a fellowship in Neuro-ophthalmology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. John has been on twenty-two humanitarian trips to Haiti, starting in 1978. He recently added three medical missions to Venezuela and two to the Dominican Republic.
Throughout the years John wrote poetry, short stories and recently three plays. Now he focuses on playwriting and novels based on his plays. The plays have been read at the Frank Silvera Writers Workshop, Inc., the New Federal Theater (playwriting class) and The Roger Furman Reading Series at the New Heritage Theater’s Dwyer Center. The play “Map Boule: Love in Time of War” was read on the “A List” at the 2011 National Black Theater Festival in Winston Salem, N.C. Map Boule. “A Few Brave Men” was selected for the 2013 A-list. John will turn it into a series of short stories and then a novel.
John’s recent play “A Few Brave Men” about the Black Marines of Montford Point from the view point of four jazz musicians from Harlem, was read in the venues mentioned above and will again be featured at the upcoming 2014 National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem. He is writing his second novel of the same title A Few Brave Men: Love in Time of War. John is taking a screenwriting class for a feature length film of the same title. He is joyously married to Edith Yancy Mitchell and has two daughters, Andrea Connor (Wellesley, H.B.S.) and Dr. Asha Okorie (Princeton and Weill Cornell Medical College’05).
John is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons New York, New York.
Q: What inspired you to start to write?
A: At Cornell, I loved African American studies and creative writing. My early influences were James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Alex Haley, Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. As I got into play writing: August Wilson, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Laurence Holder and most of all Anton Chekhov, inspired me.
Q: Describe the new play; when and where it will debut and who is in it?
A: “A Few Brave Men” (second play in the trilogy “Love in Time of War”) starts with a reunion in 2013 of the Montford Point Marines. Four jazz musicians, “The Jive Four,” in Harlem who during World War II, join the US Marines in 1942. The Marines were the last military service to permit Blacks to join. The play is told from the point of view of Aloyius “Big Al” Sam. Al was at Cornell for two years and marched with the Big Red Band before being drafted into the Marines. He is the quartet’s bandleader and the other three members volunteer for different reasons. Carlos Peralta, a Puerto Rican is the antagonist. (I will always have Latinos/Latinas in my plays). We see their struggles through boot camp at Montford Point, in Jacksonville North Carolina. Al marries Carlos’ sister who moves to NC to be with her man before he is sent to the Pacific. We see Jim Crow’s effect on Al’s marriage, the horror of war and Iwo Jima where the black Marines lives are changed forever. We see the longevity of friendships and marriage and love in spite of war. Modern jazz and a montage of images from the 1940’s in Harlem and the Pacific are prominently featured. The play will be produced later this year by the New Heritage Theater, Inc, under Voza Rivers. I have the privilege of working with a superb Director/ Actor, Eric Coleman.
Q: What advice would you give to students interested in writing?
A: Read “Story” by Robert McKee, at least twice. Other must reads include “Writing Tools” by Roy Peter Clark and “The Playwright’s Guidebook” by Stuart Spencer. Your library should include “Writing Dialogue” by Tom Chiarella, "The Art of Acting" by Stella Adler, “The Screenwriter’s Workbook’ by Syd Field and a slightly out of date but helpful “The Art of Dramatic Writing” by Lajos Egri. Take at least one class in creative writing, playwriting and/or screenwriting. Master a modern language (for me it was Spanish). Travel for pleasure, read accomplished authors, volunteer for humanitarian missions, and most important, work hard, expect rejection but never, never give up. Set aside time, get sleep and write, write, write or you will never get better. Forget the MFA programs unless you want to be an academic. Oh yes, have a day job, preferably one you love (like me). A supportive spouse is a blessing.
Q: We have the CBAA literary grant for new writers. What are your thoughts about it and what additional tools may be available for alums and/or students just starting to write?
A: This is a wonderful idea! There is an expense of time and treasure for those who write. For those who write novels, short stories or non-fiction get a good editor (contact me I have an excellent one). A good editor is 100% worth it. Publishing is another thing. Self-publishing is a good alternative, because the publishing houses are reluctant to take on unknowns without a track record and you will have to do your own marketing anyway. An agent can help after you have crafted the best work you can. Contact me at mitchellmdj@verizon.net, Facebook and like Facebook: A Few Good Men.