Ms. McKiver has entered the building

Wanda McKiver (pronounced McKeever) was born on February 9, 1970; and began writing almost as soon as she was able to hold a pencil. Her love for the literary world revealed itself as early as first grade, when she was asked to participate in a read-a-thon for her school.

She is a proud mother of five children, who has inherited her desire to change the world through art; they demonstrate that love through instruments, acting, writing, and singing.

She has made a significant impact upon the arrival of her first novel entitled, The Black Rose Diaries. This 334 page turner created conversations about life and turmoil in the world of three African American women, all of which ended in suicide, a topic rarely discussed in this community. Readers were stunned to realize their best friends, family members, even themselves could easily be taken away with such a devastating act. Wanda held small group conversations, gaining the trust and love of her peers who otherwise felt alone.

She further touched the lives of the fans of The Black Rose Diaries as well as a new fan base when she released her second novel, entitled Beautiful. This, a tale of two sisters at war with a neglectful mother, a drunken uncle and a stepfather who had the hardest time being anything other than a child molester. As she did, with the release of The Black Rose Diaries, Ms. McKiver, held discussions about the topics of incest and child molestation within the African American community, since it is perceived to be handled differently than any other race.

Ms. McKiver has always been a fan of live theatre and produced her first community theatre piece on October 6, 2007, entitled The Grandmas, a comedic drama, detailing the experience of growing up in a five generation household of all women. She realized that she could contribute positive images of the African American community and quickly began production of her second, a gospel play this time, entitled, At the Gate, which challenges ones faith in God. She prides herself in her versatile style of writing in addition to being able to envision an idea and bring it to life. Although Ms. McKiver is of African American descent, she would like to be recognized for not being a writer who writes about the black experience, however a writer, who just happens to be black. She now brings to stage, The Meltdown, a powerful prose project in which six actresses express twenty-four out of thirty-eight poems from Ms. McKiver’s first chapbook. To anyone who has had a conversation with Wanda, this production is clearly one straight from the heart. This piece is a self-described autobiography, where this writer expresses her deepest feelings through words, arranged in a way, in which only one who has ever gone through the experiences could appreciate.

Ms. McKiver would like to thank all actresses for accepting these roles that are clearly difficult and for being able to step outside themselves to perform them. She would like to thank her children, who as always have shown her unconditional love, support and trust, her parents, for simply loving her, the artist, (inside joke),her siblings and future in-laws for their support. Her muse for the simple life and simple plain ole’ love, last by not least, her fans that wait patiently for her next project to be born.

I will continue to “walk against the grain" in a quest to make a difference.