When Tyrone Jones '00 was not satisfied with the way ethnicity was handled in a seminar on the role of homosexuality in American literature and culture, he responded with a final project to compensate. For an assigned 12-page paper, he turned in a 12-page proposal that he eventually turned into a 50-page piece.

Jones is not done with his writing yet; although he already anticipates using the material for his thesis, he says he ultimately would like to see his work in print.

Although it's not uncommon for students to work incredibly hard on their writing, few undergraduates think their work will earn them anything other than a good grade.

Yet there exists a handful of students at Harvard, like Jones, who have larger plans for their work. They want their work to be read by more people than just their T.F. They want their work to be in the public eye. A small minority of Harvard students either offer their work to publishers and producers or self-publish and perform their writing.

Extending an Assignment

Tentatively entitled "Living in the margins: an exploration of the liminal existence of gay black men within the liminal existence of black people," Jones describes the focus of his paper as "the perception of otherness within otherness."

"What happens if one is a minority in the American construction and then within that construction gay?" he asks. "What is the existence of a person who is double minority?"

Jones would like to pursue this project not only because he thinks that there has not been enough research on people who are both gay and black, but also because he feels compelled to have his voice heard.

"It's a difficult struggle, it's a long struggle and it's a struggle that I endured alone for the most part, so I don't want my black gay counterparts of a younger age to feel as if there is nothing out there to help them endure," he says.

Jones admits that he is hesitant about the appeal of his subject matter to a broad audience and thus to the profit-minded publishing industry, but he points to a recent rise in writing published by younger writers.

"We need multiple perspectives...not just one singular perspective of someone who has gone through and gotten that Ph.D and that master's and taught for 10 years and achieved a certain level of prominence in the academic community."

Say Hello to Hollywood

Jones is not the only young writer in search of a broader audience. Corey G. May '99 learned about the professional writing track at age 17 when he sold a screenplay to Gibraltor Productions for more than $20,000.

May describes his script, "What it Takes," as "sort of like 'Clueless' but from a male's perspective, about coming of age in Beverly Hills" and says that his piece may have been optioned before 'Clueless' was sold.

Although his screenplay was never produced, May says that during his film negotiations he learned many technical skills such as how to format a script, how to manipulate voice-overs and how to define character action while still allowing for actor interpretation.

"It was clear that [my script] had been written by an amateur, but I think that they expected that," he says. "I suspect that they were also excited to tout something new and unique, a young kid writing a screen-play."