Mom lit, anyone?

There's an article up at the nyt on the latest trend (meaning it's probably already over), mom lit. Basically, chick lit authors and readers are now having babies. I think this mania for labelling books chick lit has gone too far. I've read a couple of "chick lit"-y titles and been put off by others because they seemed to be chick lit.

The mom-centricity of some parts of our culture seem to be almost purely market-driven and I think that's the case here. But as a mom, I am interested in some of those stories that have some mothering angle. But I'm also interested in fast-paced murder mysteries and thrillers, though I hope to have nothing in common with those protagonists anytime soon.

But with this mom lit trend, I'm thinking again about how that affects or excludes black authors and readers. For instance I really enjoyed Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes (she's quoted in the nyt article and has commented on it in her blog), both because I recognized many of the challenges the mothers faced and because it seemed more realistic to me since it wasn't an all-white cast of characters. (Yes, the black mother is married to a professional athlete - which I could make a case for as a stereotypical way to insert a black mother. But she wasn't the maid, or the personal assistant, or a recipient of the white character's charity). I wonder if there are black authors whose books would easily fit within the mom lit category but aren't being placed there and who may be missing readers because they've been lumped into a racial niche.

Can you think of any black authors who have written mom lit (or have something coming out?) Let me know, I'd like to check them out.

Another thing the article touches on is the over-the-top wealth of some of the characters in these novels. Yet I think it is entirely possible to have an engaging novel about women/people/mothers who are not obscenely wealthy. It might even be a. better. book.

Jump at the Sun
I meant to comment on Kim McLarin's book below - but, I got a little distracted. Anyway, I recommend it. It's interesting that I was reading it around the time that Bebe Moore Campbell passed away. McLarin's novels have more depth than much of what is pushed onto the African American shelves. Jump at the Sun is no exception. I was impressed with the way she weaved one mother's story as really a part of her family's maternal history and made all the women sympathetic to some degree (for awhile anyway). I am reading a lot of really light fiction now and McLarin's novel is not light - it pushed me to think and gave me characters too complex for me to easily dismiss or embrace. It also left things kind of unsettled and it was good to read something that was more realistic, with a story that isn't all tied up at the end.

A reading Dec. 22 in Baltimore:
We have reached the last stop on the 2006 tour of Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces.Red Emma's Books will host the contributors on Friday, December 22, 2006 at 6:30pm. If you haven't had a chance to attend a reading this is a great way to end the year (and pick up some last minute autographed Christmas presents). Spread the word! Also keep an eye out for the new 2007 tour schedule in a couple weeks.Red Emma's Books Reading and Book SigningFriday, December 22, 2006800 St. Paul Street Baltimore, MD6:30pm Michellehttp://www.thepoetryfix.org/A national resource for poets/writersand the folks who love us!

I just missed the Growing Up Girl event at Charis in Atlanta. Hopefully some of the authors will make a swing near me in 2007.

Review surfing:
SF Chronicle on Amiri Baraka's short story collection, Tales of the Out & the Gone.

Do cookies and writers belong together?

This is going to be a (hopefully coherent) hodge-podge of a post. Due to the lateness of the hour and all the random things I've run across at times when I haven't been able to post.

Kitty Kelley's newest bio-subject is:
Oprah.
That's right, Oprah. I would love to read a good biography of Oprah, though I feel she has told so much of her own story, that it'd make more sense for her to do an autobiography (and that would probably sell more copies). It will be interesting how it comes out - if it comes out. Got that nugget from galleycat. Here's the article.

Also from galleycat - a promotional idea
Cookies, books and authors. Sounds like a sweet deal, though having such an event at a feminist bookstore seems both subversive and stereotypical. I'll have to think on that for awhile. But I do love baked goods, so I'd be willing to go for the concept. Perhaps Tayari Jones could do it with red velvet cake.

Books in stores - and a contest
Take a picture of Marilynn Griffith's latest book, If the Shoe Fits, on your local bookstore's shelves and you may win a copy. Or you could just buy it after you take the pic, right?
BTW, there's a cookie recipe on MG's site. So she could certainly do the cookie/signing idea.

Are you an Edward P. Jones scholar?
Then this is for you:
Deadline extended for a proposed panel on Edward P. Jones at the eighteenth annual conference ofthe American Literature Association to be held in Boston, May 24-27, 2007.Papers that focus on his short fiction are particularly encouraged, though papers on his novel, TheKnown World, will be considered. All approaches are welcome.Please email 200 word abstracts and a CV no later than January 10, 2007 to Gregory Miller,University of California at Davis (glmiller@ucdavis.edu)
Pulled from kalamu's cyberdrummers listserv for and about writers of African descent. Email kalamu@aol.com to be added.

Review surfing
WashPost review of There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America By William Julius Wilson and Richard P. Taub

WSJ, new-2-me blogs, McLarin's novel

I decided today to get deeper into making this a viable blog. Naturally that sent me on a hunt for links and interesting things to share. Here's what I've found so far (and probably all for tonight!)

New-2-me blogs:
Mat Johnson, found via a link on Nichelle Tramble's blog. (For the record, I vote that Nichelle keep blogging.) Mat has some interesting posts about commercial fiction, self-publishing and the state of the black literati - and yes his site is called Niggerati. Talk amongst yourselves about that one - perhaps there's a Michael Richards joke in there somewhere. I haven't read all of Mat's posts, but found the one I did read (#3) to be provocative. Are the self-published, so-called ghetto lit authors working on the craft? Does it matter if they still sell?
And speaking of selling, I have a 99% unread copy of B-More Careful available really cheap. I bought it to check out the craze and just could not even force myself to read it. So if the author is working on the craft, I'll never see the work, since I will not risk the money again.

Anyway, Mat's work looks cool, and I'm particularly interested in the Walter White-inspired graphic novel coming out next year. I'll have to get some of his work - talk in comments about it if you're familiar with his writing.

Also stumbled into Felicia Pride's blog and she had a post about a WSJ article about black authors. I'm not a suscriber, so I'll have to go to the hard copy tomorrow. Here's what's available on their site as a preview for non-subscribers:

Why Book Industry Sees the World Split Still by Race
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
Word Count: 1,851 Companies Featured in This Article: CBS, Borders Group, Wal-Mart Stores, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Pearson
Brandon Massey's readers tell him they know just where to find his horror novels -- in the African-American section of bookstores. He's torn about whether or not this is a good thing.
"You face a double-edged sword," says Mr. Massey, 33 years old. "I'm black and I'm published by a black imprint, so I'm automatically slotted in African-American fiction." That helps black readers to find his books easily and has underpinned his career. At the same time, he says, the placement "limits my sales."
Should fiction written by black authors be shelved in African-American departments, a move that often helps ....

And no, Felicia, you're not the only one:

Am I the only one that hadn't heard about Angela Bassett and her husband's
Courtney Vance's new book entitled, Friends: A Love Story? It's being published
by Harlequin/Kimani Press this January

Bebe Moore Campbell

When we made it home from our T-giving trip, I was shocked to see that Bebe Moore Campbell had died. I saw it on Tayari Jones' site - then googled it to see what happened. I keep being surprised with younger deaths - though I wouldn't have thought of 56 as youthful 15 years ago. It seems very young now.
So, if you haven't already started, go and re-read some of Bebe's books. Here are a few of the obituary stories on her. She made a mark on us and her last book, 72 Hour Hold, really pushes the entire society to have a real dialogue on mental illness/disease.

LATimes: "Bebe was a passionate voice for Los Angeles," novelist Paula L. Woods said Monday. "She wrote about the historical and social forces that make us rub against each other and spark. Her heart was in the African American community."There will be a gap without her. Already, you feel that absence."

WashPost: "African Americans know about racism," Campbell said, "but I don't think we really know the causes. I decided it's first of all a family problem."

NYTimes: Along with writers like Terry McMillan, Ms. Campbell was part of the first wave of black novelists who made the lives of upwardly mobile black people a routine subject for popular fiction. Straddling the divide between literary and mass-market novels, Ms. Campbell’s work explored not only the turbulent dance between blacks and whites but also the equally fraught relationship between men and women.

Blacks, books and newspapers

The NYTimes has a story on Black Issues Book Review's new venture, Blacks&Books - a supplement for Black newspapers. I love the idea - and hope it eventually gets to my, not-so-urban market.

A novel in 30 days
Are you crazy, ambitious or dedicated enough to pound out 50,000 words in 30 days? Then you're probably already participating in National Novel Writing Month. If you're not and want to learn about it (and some strategies for your own writing) read this.

Yeah - still here and reading

What I'm reading...
I am back in a heavy reading mode and am gathering more books than I can possibly read by the end of the month. But I intend to make a valiant effort.

Found the latest Kim McLarin novel, Jump at the Sun, at the library. Loved her two first novels, so I'm excited about the premise of this one - a mother's struggle with her new life as a stay-at-home mom. I have read a few titles that do the mommy tales (the modern version) but don't know of that many new novels by Black women that are doing that. I realize I'm probably just missing them - so I'm open to suggestions in comments.

The NYTimes has a story about the surprise bestselling book by Sen. Barack Obama. Of course there's still all the talk about and his coy avoidance of the question of 2008, the White House and Hilary. Here's a bit from the NYTimes books story.

Writing in The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani called Mr. Obama, 45, “that rare politician who can actually write.” In The Washington Post, Michael Kazin praised Mr. Obama’s “knack for mixing stirring rhetoric about good and evil with practical policy ideas.”

Sunday Books Roundup

Here's what I've found of interest today in the books sections:

A nice LA Times feature story on writers ("ethnic" writers) who are including social history and commentary in their mystery novels. Paula L. Woods (author of the Charlotte Justice novels, including Strange Bedfellows) and Walter Mosley are quoted. Also a reference to Gary Phillips and his novel, The Jook.
Also in the LA Times, a review of Forty Million Dollar Slaves The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete, by William C. Rhoden. Rhoden is a sportswriter for the NYTimes who played football for Morgan State University in the late 1960s. This will be a big publishing year for Rhoden - he also has this title, Third and a Mile : From Fritz Pollard to Michael Vick - An Oral History of the Trials, Tears and Triumphs of the Black Quarterback, coming out in the fall.

The WaPost reviewed Andrea Smith's The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner a few weeks ago. It's about a group of African American church ladies who begin breaking the law to save babies. The novel is set in South Carolina in the 1950s.

"Beloved" Chosen as Best American Fiction

I was really surprised and pleased to read today that 100 writers and critics chose Toni Morrison's Beloved as the best work of American fiction published in 25 years. Really, they did. Read about it in the NYTimes. Here's the list of judges.

There is also an essay by A. O. Scott about the process and it includes this tidbit about the previous effort by the NYTimes to choose a best work of fiction:

The last time this kind of survey was conducted, in 1965 (under the
auspices of Book Week, the literary supplement of the soon-to-be-defunct New
York Herald Tribune), the winner was Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," which was declared "the most memorable" work of American fiction published since the end of World War II, and the most likely to endure.

I thought that was pretty amazing, but then again, not too surprising. Race and class are there at the beginning of the idea of America as a nation, so novels that grapple with both and the many issues spawned by color and class have the potential to be our great works.

One Love, in Memoriam
Today is the 25th anniversary of Bob Marley's death. I read a story earlier this week on the ABC news site about the upcoming anniversary. I thought it was really odd that "top-selling Hasidic reggae star Matisyahu" was such a big part of the story. Not necessarily bad, it just seemed like he was more of a focal point than necessary. I would have liked to have heard more thoughts from across the musical spectrum.

I really liked NPR's tribute story, which included an interview with Christopher John Farley, who has a new book, Before the Legend:The Rise of Bob Marley, that's a history of Marley before reggae and Rastafari. There's an excerpt from the book at the NPR site.

One thing I learned from the story is that there are multiple versions of "One Love." There are audio clips on NPR's site as well as a photo gallery.

Checking for reviews and such

Just a few quick hits:

Miami Herald review of Walter Mosley's Fortunate Son.

An interesting story on "chica" lit from The Arizona Republic. Here's an interesting quote from Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez:

"Labels can be tools of empowerment when used properly, and they can be
tools of marginalization when used incorrectly," Valdes-Rodriguez says. "They
can be both at once. And I know that if I didn't have a Spanish name, I would be
selling a lot more books than I am . . . because I get notes from people saying,
'I'm not Latina, but I read your book anyway.' I know Jennifer Weiner isn't
getting notes saying, 'I'm not Jewish, but I read your book anyway,' for In Her
Shoes or Good in Bed, and our books are very similar. . . .
"My worry is
that bookstores are going to start to have the Latina section. And at that
point, my career dies."

There's another comparison to the African American literary landscape before and after Terry McMillan. (The comparison in the above quote is of course unspoken, but if you've been in any major bookstore, you've seen "our" section). Of course the so-called urban lit fad is driving us further in that direction of marginalization and stereotypes.

The Palm Beach Post has an editor who is blogging about Black literature. I don't know why that shocked me - it just seemed really specific for a metro daily in a city that I don't think of as black. Shocking, but cool. Check out Rhonda Swan, the Literary Diva.

E. Lynn Harris has a new novel out. Here's a feature story about him from the Washington Blade in which he declines to call himself an activist and talks about upcoming work. The new novel is I Say a Little Prayer. Gay men and the black church. Man, E. Lynn really set us to talking.

A new press, pimps and more

Just saw an announcement about Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces, edited by Michelle Sewelle. She is publishing it under her press, Girlchild Press, this month. Check it out here: http://www.girlchildpress.com/.

Calls for Writing
Seal Press is publishing an anthology about women travelling solo. Deadline is May 15, 2006. Get the details here: http://www.sealpress.com/submissions/index.html

Another opportunity is the upcoming anthology, Cornrows, Double-Dutch, & Black Girl Blues:Words and Images of Black Girlhood in America Photos by Delphine Fawundu-Buford, Edited by Ibi Aanu Zoboi.

The editor seeks submissions that speak to the experience of the black girl aged 7 through 12 in America. Currently, this is a closed invitation to women who either work closely with young black girls or writers who can contribute an intriguing memoir. Once we have secured a publisher, an open call will be sent out to young girls across the country to submit short poems.

Deadline is April 15, 2006. The call is much longer than what I've posted here. To submit or get more details, email the editor at: BlackGirlBlues@gmail.com.

Who's really struggling?
The Oscar pimp song controversy isn't over. Jill Nelson has a commentary about the song and hip hop culture in general at Nia Online. I'm really tired of the glorification of pimping - so hats off to Jill for being grown up (as always) about it.

Quick hits - reviews, etc.

Lots of stuff is happening with my other projects, so this will be quick. Do keep sending me links and notes, though and I'll post.

Nice story on John Hope Franklin in the Raleigh News and Observer.
Janet McDonald has an essay about her perspective on the French riots at Newsday. She's the author of Project Girl.
Nalo Hopkinson relates two pieces of good news on her blog. One - Nnedimma Okorafor-Mbachu won a Magical Realism Short Story Contest. Her novel is Zahrah the Windseeker. And the Dark Matter Series, edited by Sheree R. Thomas, won the World Fantasy Award.

A few reviews and such

Usually I avoid books written by celebrities. I'm just skeptical that they will be anything more than just a publicity tool. So I was a little wary of Denise Nicholas' Freshwater Road. It sounded like a good idea, but would it be well executed? Well the reviews look good, so I'm going to read it. Plus I was a big fan of In the Heat of the Night, so it's a little fan thing too. Here's what's being written about the book:
Washington Post
A short Q&A in the Detroit Free Press

Apparently I started this and never published it. Aagh.

Call me a slacker - but check these links

Yep. I'm a slacker. But I've been productive on other fronts, so I'm happy about that. Here's some reading about authors, books, other.


Octavia Butler interview in The Minnesota Daily

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, and a little race talk:

Whitman even once wrote in a magazine article that blacks were no more capable than baboons, though he crossed off that reference before the article was printed, Gewirtz added.

But all that has failed to put a damper on Whitman's growing popularity, and today he is widely accepted even by African American authors.

Hmm. I'd like to hear what African American authors say about Whitman's work and legacy. I'll have to go revisit some of his poetry, which I haven't read since high school, I think. Comments, anyone?

A couple of reviews of Cinnamon Kiss, the new Easy Rawlins novel from Walter Mosley:
Detroit Free Press
Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale)

And a conversation between Walter Mosley and Ed Gordon on NPR. There's a new movie in the works for Easy!

Writers Raising Money

Linda Dominique Grosvenor has set up a a donation drive on her site to benefit child victims of Hurricane Katrina. Another way to give during the crisis.

Authors Helping Katrina Victims, Other Notes

Obviously all eyes are turned toward Katrina, the relief efforts and the criticism of said efforts. It's unbelievable that we are watching refugees and this type of rescue effort in the U.S. Usually we're sending help somewhere else. And so many of us needing the help. There are lots of Black folks writing about what's going on and I'll link to some of the commentary here.

Also want to talk about relief efforts by authors. A few weeks ago a bunch of authors set up auctions to benefit one of their own who lost everything in a fire. A similar effort, www.romaid.net, has sprung up to benefit Larissa Ione, a romance writer from Mississippi.

So knowing that New Orleans has a high percentage of African Americans and is a place where the African culture has had such a major influence, I'm curious about how Black writers are faring after the disaster and about efforts by other writers to reach out in some way. Send an email about any relief efforts you're involved in or have heard about. Also, who are the novelists who live in New Orleans and other affected areas? Seems like it would be a nice gesture to go out and buy their books right about now, in addition to making donations to help all kinds of people affected by the tragedy.

Tayari Jones has set up a little program of her own. If you donate to the relief fund, she will send you a signed copy of one of her books. Go to her site to get details on how to do this.

Anybody else?

Other notes
Lots of recent author interviews on Ed Gordon's NPR show, including:
Christopher John Farley talking about Kingston by Starlight
John Ridley on Barbershop, the TV show
A wonderful piece by Roy Hurst on Helen Oyeyemi (The Icarus Girl)
Pearl Cleage giving a tour of Spelman College

Check out Poets & Writers' September Issue. There's an amazing photograph of James Baldwin on the cover.

Toni Morrison spoke at the University of Miami (Florida) this week. Read about it here.

Marilynn Griffith (whose novel Made of Honor is due first of the year), posted today about a deal for Claudia Burney. Here's the text from Marilynn's blog:

One of my dear friends and favorite bloggers, Claudia Burney, has just signed a three-book contract with the new NavPress fiction line! The series, The Bell Brown Mysteries, is one of the best I've seen in quite some time and I wish you all could read it right now. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next summer. The first book is A FLING AND A PRAYER, the second is titled ALL THAT'S JAZZ, after Jazz Brown, the hunky police detective love interest and the third title is BETWEEN ROCKY AND A HARD PLACE, after Bell's cool and cute Emergent pastor who loves Jesus...and Bell.

For any of you who know Claudia as the Ragamuffin Diva, you know how gifted a writer she is. If you don't know, you soon will find out...

Yeah. It's like that. :)

Catching Up

Okay - I've been missing in action, but with good reason. I was a the National Association of Black Journalists 30th anniversary conference. Sans laptop, so no blogging. But it was a pretty good conference. It seemed a little lighter on sessions than past gatherings, but the sessions that did happen were good. And lots of authors and book talk there. Seems a lot of journalists want to writer in longer form.

And yes, the National Book Club Conference was going on at the same time. No, I didn't go visit over there - though it would seem like the right place for the BBB Editor. Just didn't have the registration cash, or extra time. I hear really good things about the turnout and the vibe. Check out "Tayari Jones' reports from the conference.

Here are a few links worth checking out:
A NYTimes story about Jill Nelson and her new book, Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island,. There's also an audio slideshow.
She's also featured in a story on the Boston Globe web site, which touches on issues of class as well as race and color.

The South Carolina Writers Conference is in October and Kimberla Lawson Roby is the keynote speaker.

Also in the NYTimes - a review of Israel on the Appomattox : A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom From the 1790s Through the Civil War, by Melvin Patrick Ely and The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves, by Andrew Levy, two biographies of American slaveholders who freed their slaves.

The Berry College Southern Women Writers Conference will be September 22 - 24, 2005. Tina McElroy Ansa and Trudier Harris are among the scheduled speakers.

I know that's been a real mixed up bag of links - but I'm trying to catch up. Thanks for the emails - I'll be updating my links rail soon.

E-Drummers, Authors Elsewhere, Notes

Welcome to all the visitors who saw the posting on Kalamu's listserv - and a big thank you to Kalamu for that ever bountiful list.

In Authors Elsewhere
Lisa Teasley has an essay in this month's
Real Simple about, as she puts it, "growing up with dark skin in a eurocentric culture that doesn't revere blackness as beautiful." So check it out. Lisa is the author of Dive and Glow in the Dark.

Authors on the Web
I posted earlier about the lack of a site for Terry McMillan. Well the site is up (or back?) and it's good. I particularly like the family photo animation.

I'll be back later this week with more - got to get some rest tonight. Keep sending those links!

Reviews, Authors Elsewhere, Whatnots

Authors writing elsewhere

Danyel Smith has a nice essay in the current Essence (with Terrance Howard on the cover) about falling for her new husband. That's cool for two reasons - the fact that Essence is devoting some pages to Black marriage and it's an opportunity to congratulate Danyel on finding wedded bliss. Check out her new novel, Bliss, as well. She's doing a few readings these days.

John Fountain had a piece on why he stopped going to church in the Washington Post last week. He raises good questions about the materialism of church leadership and the lack of energy, funds and programs directed toward the very real problems in the community. Thanks to Tayari Jones for the link. John is the author of True Vine: A Young Black Man's Journey of Faith, Hope and Clarity.

Shelf Segregation
Here's an essay in The Book Standard that is a response to an essay by David Leavitt in the NYTimes about the closing of a gay bookstore in NY and the status of gay fiction. The Book Standard piece, by Johnny Temple, makes the comparison of the marginalization of gay fiction in general stores with similar treatment of titles by Black authors. Most of this will be familiar to lovers of Black books who can't find certain authors in big stores or are frustrated when their own titles are limited to the "race shelf." What I found most interesting is that, except for a mention of James Baldwin, there was no mention in either piece of the recent spate of Black gay literature. Now where are those books placed? On the Black or the gay shelf? I've noticed in several stores that those few shelves tend to be close together, if not adjacent. Another example of double invisibility.

Terry Update
The hits keeping coming. Here are reviews and stories about Terry McMillan and her new novel, The Interruption of Everything.
NY Daily News story
Seattle Times review
USA Today review
Philadelphia Inquirer review
Chicago Sun-Times review

Book Trailers?
What if you could see a trailer for a book? Yes, a visual interpretation of the written word - as a promotion vehicle. That's what the folks behind VidLit.com have come up with. I went there after reading about VidLits on MJRose's Buzz, Balls & Hype site. Watched the vidlit for her novel, The Halo Effect, then watched the Bertice Berry vidlit for When Love Calls You Better Answer. First of all, MJ Rose is not Black - so don't be confused - BBB is aware of that. Her site is great though with loads of insight on book publishing and marketing. Both vidlits were for novels I probably would not have picked up, but the animated promos piqued my interest in both of them. Something to check out.


Whatnots
Proceeds from a new book, titled 100 Words of Wisdom, will go toward fighting domestic violence. According to the book web site, Dr. Julianne Malveaux and are among the contributors. I love the animated woman on the site - though I must admit when I realized she follows your cursor, I did try to make her cross her eyes!

R. Spot Barber and Books in San Diego has closed due to a rent increase.

The African American Odyssey, a college text, has been revised for high school students. Here's a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the text, the differences between the two versions and the content.

Readings, Poetry, and Reading Lists

Readings
Christopher John Farley has two upcoming readings for Kingston by Starlight - check him out if you can.

July 19, 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson
52 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012
212-274-1160

July 25, 7 p.m.
Pirate Soul Museum
524 Front Street
Key West, FL 33040
305-292-1113

Sapphire was a master artist in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (New Smyrna Beach, FL) this summer and there was a good article about her and the associate artists in the Orlando Sentinel last week. One of the associate artists is Glenis Redmond from N.C. The closing event for the residency - open to the public, is Inside/Out at the ACA tonight. Begins at 7:30 p.m.

Beware the Reading List
The president at Prairie View A&M is handing out a list of 19 must-read works by Black authors so that students, regardless of race, know the Black experience. That is the lead-in in a Houston Chronicle story about concerns that the Black university is losing it's historic and Black identity. That caught my eye because I also read this story in the St. Pete Times earlier this month about a teacher who is accused of forcing students to read Black authors.

I remember other stories about non-Black teachers doing things that might be read as culturally sensitive and progressive or racially inappropriate, depending on your viewpoint. And a story about African American parents who had a problem with their child having to read a novel about a lynching in class. They didn't want him to be embarrassed in his predominantly white classroom. This kind of attitude makes my head spin - and not in a good way. I can't believe that parents are worried their child will be embarrassed by his history and would actually ask to have a book pulled. Or that they would accuse a teacher of bias for introducing titles by Black authors. But of course, I don't know the whole story in either instance.

Obituary
Professor and poet Lorenzo Thomas of Texas has passed away. Here's the Houston Chronicle obit. Here's a graph from the obit that gives some idea of his influence:

During his years at Queens College, Thomas joined the Umbra Workshop, a collective that met on the Lower East Side and served as a crucible for emerging black poets, among them Ishmael Reed, David Henderson and Calvin Hernton. The workshop was one of the currents that fed the Black Arts Movement of the '60s and '70s, the first major African-American artistic movement after the Harlem Renaissance.

Black Author Summer
The LA Times did a nice piece on Black women authors and the six who have new titles out now (Terry McMillan, Pearl Cleage, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Benild Little, Connie Briscoe and Bebe Moore Campbell). I glad to see they way they give one another props.

Campbell's book, 72 Hold, deals with mental illness and family issues. I thought is was interesting to see on Kyra Davis' (Sex, Murder and a Double Latte) blog, that she is "coming out" about her experience with a family member with bipolar disorder. It's wonderful that they're talking about mental health issues - and hopefully helpful to someone out there.

A Few Quick Things

Much like Tayari Jones, I don't mean to be obsessed with Terry McMillan, but the current back and forth between her and her soon-to-be ex-husband is interesting to watch. And listening to her finally talk about this on the Tavis Smiley show this week was interesting as well. So here are a few more links:


Audio from the Tavis show (also a transcript)
Column by John McCann in Durham (mentions a local book club, too)
Keith Boykin's column in the Southern Voice mentions Plummer (and Luther Vandross and J.L. King) as he writes about images of black gay men

CJF in VF
Christopher John Farley's Kingston by Starlight is mentioned in the August issue of Vanity Fair (with Martha on the cover). The mention isn't online, so you'll have to get your hands on a hard copy to read the Hot Type column.

Festival Alert
The National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta begins this weekend. This is one of my favorite festivals - and I'm sad I won't be there this year. If you can get there, check it out. Among the authors who will be there: Maya Angelou, Guy Johnson, Tony Medina, Nikki Giovanni, jessica care moore-Poole, Valerie Boyd, Malaika Adero and more.