ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE by Aberjhani and Sandra L. West listed among Black Issues Book Review's recommended "selections for the well-stocked library."
NEWS & REVIEWS
DREAM REACHERS, featuring Aberjhani, by Betty Dravis and Chase Von
Aberjhani Among the DREAM REACHERS
Dream Reachers features indepth profiles and interviews with more than three dozen creative artists in various disciplines who strived to achieve some measure of success while oftentimes exerting a positive influence on their communities as well. Among those profiled is author Aberjhani.
How Clint Eastwood, Darcy Donavan and others did it
"Dream Reachers" is a magical mix of success stories and interviews with people who have dared to stretch to reach for their dreams. From living legends to legends-in-the-making, the subjects of this book let their imaginations soar.
In this book, author Betty Dravis shares her experiences as a young journalist when screen idols, like Clint Eastwood and Jane Russell, walked right off the big screen and into her life...for brief, memorable moments.
Co-author Chase Von, a celebrity interviewer and poet, shares his current interviews with high achievers in the arts: actors, writers, painters, photographers, musicians, singers, dancers and more. As these achievers tell you in their own words why they keep stretching to reach their dreams, they enchant the readers with their determination, inspiring them to DREAM BIG.
With over forty compelling stories and interviews, this literary work casts new light on what it takes to be a Dream Reacher. These are stories of how even disasters can turn into dreams, challenges into opportunities, with the right attitude of perseverance and determination.
Whether you dream of walking the red carpet in Hollywood, taking the Big Apple by storm, having a cottage with a white picket fence " "or all of those pleasures " "this book will inspire you to stretch " to make your dreams come true.
Here is what internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and life coach Glenn B. Burke has to say about Dream Reachers ": I think this book will be the catalyst for a lot of people who just need that extra "nudge` to give them the courage to go for their own dreams. I wish it had been available to me " "BEFORE my life of crime."
"Dream Reachers" can be ordered from Amazon.com and other Internet booksellers, or it can be ordered from your local bookstore.
For more information about this topic, please contact Betty Dravis by email: bettydravis@gmail.com
Artist Gustave Blache III signs a copy of I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY for a customer during 1998 book signing.
THE SPECIAL MAGIC OF ONE EXCEPTIONAL BOOK COVER
That the painting, Portraitof a Young Man (a.k.a. Artist Spirit), by the New Orleans and New York City based artist Gustave Blache III, adorned the cover of my first book, I Made My Boy Out of Poetry, has long been a source of intense private joy. That joy recently transformed into something closer to inspired awe and restrained pride when I learned that the original painting had not been destroyed by the ravages of hurricanes Katrina and Rita as I once thought, but apparently had found safe haven in New Orleans’ Cole Pratt Gallery and has now joined an eclectic collection of exceptional art that will be sold by live online auction March 27 and 28, through the famous New Orleans Auction Galleries.
Every twenty-first century author knows the value of appealing cover art and I considered myself extremely blessed when Blache agreed to allow me to utilize his painting for my book.The funny thing was that I had already picked out a different piece of art for the cover but promptly changed my mind the moment I saw his. A work of 78" x 36" oil-on-canvas brilliance, the painting stood about half a foot taller than me and took my breath away.
The artist who had created this Renaissance-like masterwork was as modern as
cell phones and MP3s, and the long t-shirt, short pants, and sneakers worn by the title subject with the stack of books at his feet reflected contemporary times as well. Yet the exquisite balance of deep shadows and abiding fields of light, and the face composed of boyhood innocence giving way to young adult caution, implied the work of a Dutch or Italian Master rather than a young genius from New Orleans. The forthcoming auction provides a resounding sense of validation of that initial assessment because New Orleans Auction Galleries has enjoyed substantial success in recent months marketing works by such classic artists as American painter George Inness (1825-1894) and Irish painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) as well as by modern artists like Louisianan George Rodrigue.
As it happened, Blache and I met at a time when we were both at a crossroad in our lives. I was settling into the reality that I had not left Savannah, Georgia, and flown to Europe or Africa as planned when I returned to the city a decade earlier, but instead had become a caregiver , bookseller, and constantly-striving author.Gustave was preparing to graduate from the former Savannah-based School of Visual Arts and relocate to New York. We connected through his mother, author Monica Blache, who had read an essay by me in ESSENCE Magazine, learned about my forthcoming book, then telephoned me to gently but persuasively suggest I “hold the presses” until I saw the real painting destined to become my first book cover. I was very happy to later acknowledge just how right she was.
This first adventure into creative book-cover excellence helped set the stage for a succession of partnerships between my words and different artists’ painted visions. A few years later, the Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance was published with Jacob Lawrence’s Village Quartet on the cover. Upon reading some of my fiction and poetry, Tybee Island artist Denise Elliot-Vernon produced the original artwork for Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black. The Bridge of Silver Wings, Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World, and ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love, all have cover art by Luther E. Vann. In addition, discussions are currently in progress with Amiri Geuka Farris regarding cover art for a forthcoming title: The River of Winged Dreams .
After learning about the auction, I visited the online site and once again stared at the painting: the meek-yet-sly gaze of the boy made out of poetry both challenged and encouraged bold creative endeavors. The books next to his sneakered feet reminded me somehow that a writer’s work is not done until the life is done, and even then the books left behind often begin a work of their own, carrying the writer’s voice into the lives of readers long after he or she is gone.
(As ESSENCE Magazine kicks off it's annual June celebration of Black Music Month with double covers of Mary J. Blige, including one with Kendu Isaac, one author-poet announces his own.)
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF SHARING PAGES IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE
Along with its annual celebration of Black Music Month, the June 2007 edition of ESSENCE Magazine includes my poem: “My One Favorite City” on page 204. Of course I’m very happy to see this poem in the magazine because it marks my tenth year publishing work in the famous periodical. Therefore, with a strong sense of gratitude and appreciation, I dub 2007 as my 10th Anniversary Year of Publishing in ESSENCE. The celebration is now officially on.
Even more than that, it makes me especially happy just to know that ESSENCE still publishes poetry since a couple of years ago it was announced that they no longer would. That announcement was a huge blow to the literary world because ESSENCE is one of only a few major magazines––with a readership of 7.6 million––that takes poets and poetry seriously enough to actually pay them for their creative properties.
Many people know by now that the first work I published in ESSENCE was a cover story, in 1997, titled “This Mother’s Son,” about the challenges of becoming a caregiver. That huge surprise had more to do with the grace and genius of ESSENCE’s phenomenal editorial director Susan L. Taylor than with me. After that initial cover story, the magazine started publishing my poetry every year and listed the Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance on its list of recommended gift items.
In addition to the poem in ESSENCE, readers have also taken note of “A Dancer’s Strength and Grace,” the poem I wrote as a review for actress-author Victoria Rowell’s bestselling memoir, “The Women Who Raised Me.” Strikes me as Ironic that “A Dancer’s Strength and Grace” was posted on the Amazon.com page for Rowell’s book just before they started setting up the page for my very first Amazon Short title: “The Harlem Renaissance Way Down South.”
NEW NOVEMBER 2006 RELEASE:
Created collectively by Aberjhani, the multi-talented author known as Rahkyt, and New Jersey writer Nordette Adams, the spoken word CD “The Goddess and the Skylark, Dancing Through the Word Labyrinth,” is an aural fusion of poetry and music. The combined talents that comprise the artistry of “The Goddess and the Skylark, Dancing through the Word Labyrinth,” make this CD something more than just one more excellent venture into spoken word. (Original photo of Aberjhani used to create CD cover taken by John Zeuli)
To refer to a book as a literary feast seems fair enough when the title in question—VISIONS OF A SKYLARK DRESSED IN BLACK––sports between its covers a novella, short story, and more than 50 poems. It becomes particularly appropriate when the poems dare to wrestle with such contemporary issues as overwhelming natural disasters and war. Their relevance magnifies even further when addressing enduring human legacies like love, sexuality, and creativity. In addition, profiles of iconic figures, including Coretta Scott King, Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, and Gordon Parks, balance the mythic dimensions of the book with cornerstones of historical realism.
"The Great Blue Heron" by Denise Elliot-Vernon.
"VISIONS" COVER ARTIST DENISE ELLIOT-VERNON
Millions of visitors make their way annually from around the world to the sunlit beaches of Tybee Island on the southeastern coast of Georgia, just outside Savannah. In addition to its beaches, the island is famous for its state of the art pier, local restaurants, unique shops, and surrounding marshlands. Denise Elliot-Vernon, creator of the Black Skylark artwork and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), is one of the foremost visual art interpreters of the area’s natural beauty and historical significance.
Elliott-Vernon’s mesmerizing artistry frames images of nature at intimate peace with itself. It also utilizes the same to conceptualize and articulate deeply moving metaphysical statements on the fine delicate character and critical importance of our natural environments.
Additionally, through her work with the Tybee Island Arts Association, Elliot-Vernon has proven a worthy advocate for contemporary artists. To learn more about her art and to arrange for purchases, please call the Dragonfly Studio at (912) 786-4431, or visit the studio’s web site by clicking on the link below.
You may also contact the artist at (912)786-5726 or through the link provided below to the Tybee Island Arts Association web site.
John Holyfield's splendid SYMPHONY OF ANGELS painting captures visually much of the spirit and power experienced through the composition, and hopefully the reading, of THE ANGELIC VERSES.
THE ANGELIC VERSES
The story “Angels and Shakespeare” was first published in the 1996 edition of the Savannah Literary Journal, later included in the book I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY, and is currently featured on the EXPOSE’D web site. Those familiar with it know the concept of angelic presences has long been featured in some of my writings, whether creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. So that part is not new.
What is new are the Angelic Verses Series of poems currently posted, and steadily proliferating, on my BLACK SKYLARK Z-PED MUSIC PLAYER site at AuthorsDen. Most puzzling to me is the fact that the series did not begin as a series at all.
It started with the poem “Angel of Gratitude,” which was presented as a public thank you note to fellow writers who had graciously posted birthday wishes for me in July. Composed of a string of haikus, I included with the poem an image by the artist Berdell Moffett-Chaney, and a short preface about its purpose. The “symbol” of the angel, more than anything else, was to emphasize my sincerity.
Apparently there was more to it than I at first surmised. As if to convince me of my own original intent, my muse brought me a gift in the form of a second poem called “Angel of Grace.” It seems that because “Angel of Grace” was not motivated by a social need the way “Angel of Gratitude” was, the poem itself took on an exceptional quality of spiritual substance. Once again, I was grateful for the gift of the poem itself and presumed that was the end of my works in angelology. Once again, I was wrong. The angels of Mercy, War, and Peace all flew—if you will––in rapid succession through my pen. On August 23, I posted “Angel of Healing,” the sixth poem in the series. Others are in various stages of completion.
Aside from the sheer surprise of producing the poems, one of the great pleasures of presenting them to the public has been tracking down, via the Internet, complementary visual images. The proliferation of visual angel works by artists from all cultural, racial, national, and religious backgrounds is nothing short of phenomenal. I can only hope that the poems I have posted are worthy matches for their selected counterparts. These include works by: Len Lye, Henry Battle, Monnica Sepulveda, and Ernest E.Varner. Gracing this page is the extraordinary talent of John Holyfield.
Precisely where all of this is going is difficult to say for the moment. Offline and online publications expressed interest in the work. Nobody’s more curious than the author to see what happens next.
So there I was preparing to interview Clinton Powell of the Spitfire Poets, the winner of last year’s “Best Poet/Spoken Word Artist” in CONNECT SAVANNAH’s Annual Reader’s Poll, when I received word that I had placed first in the category for the 2006 poll.
How cool was that?!
Winners of the poll were announced in the May 17, 2006, edition of CONNECT SAVANNAH (www.connectsavannah.com). My selection as the “Best Poet/Spoken Word Artist” came as a surprise for a number of reasons. The first of those reasons is that my books, especially I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY, can be difficult to find in Savannah.
The second is that I had been concentrating very heavily on journalism and creative nonfiction during the past six months and rarely got to do anything with my poetry outside of posting material on my Black Skylark Z-Ped Music Player site. Hmmm, but then again maybe that’s what did the trick. Or maybe it had something to do with the publication of my work in ESSENCE Magazine every other month last year. Whatever the precise reason, it felt good to know folks in my hometown were tuning in to my poetic vibe.
That I have been chosen this year is a particularly satisfying honor because in the past I have placed once as a runner up and once as a “critic’s pick.” Although this isn’t exactly the coveted People’s Choice Award, it is something of a miniature version of it and that makes it very special. It also makes me very grateful.
Aberjhani
––30—
In its 7th Anniversary Celebration Issue, leading literary periodical BLACK ISSUES BOOK REVIEW presents a nod to "the little encyclopedia that could."
THE WORD FROM THE EXPERTS
It is a great day when a writer can open a major magazine such as the January/February 2006 Seventh Anniversary Edition of BLACK ISSUES BOOK REVIEW and discover that his book has been listed as one of that magazine’s recommended “Essentials, selections for the well-stocked library.”
In a two-page article titled “Just the Facts,” Brooklyn writer and editor, Zakia Carter notes that such works as the Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (co-authored by this writer and Sandra L. West, “are foundations of a good home library.”
Considering all the thousands of books published every year, it’s more than a little mind-boggling to learn that one’s work has been included on a very short list of titles––roughly a dozen––that also contains Kwame Anthony Appiah’s and Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s masterful AFRICANA. As a bookseller half a decade ago, I was thrilled to offer customer the hefty first edition of AFRICANA. Now it’s been re-released as an even more impressive five-volume set. It kind of makes me think of Professor West’s and my book as ‘the little encyclopedia that could.’
In her article, on pages 54 and 55 of the magazine, Zakia Carter observes the following: “A glossary of Harlem Renaissance slang, maps, lists of contemporary museums with collections of works from the period, and photographs flesh out the alphabetically arranged entries of the various artists, intellectuals, books, journals, writers, organizations, collectives, locales and events that make up the Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Checkmark Books, 2003). Such entries as those on the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the Great Migration, Zora Neale Hurston, the National Urban League, Charlie Parker, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, make this the only encyclopedia dedicated solely to black America’s golden age of cultural productivity in the 1920s and ‘30s.”
In addition to its review of recommended nonfiction titles for the home library, the current Black Issues Book Review also features profiles of some the most influential figures in the publishing industry. Moreover, Gwendolyn E. Osborne’s article, “The Color of Love,” takes an informative look at the growing trend of romance books by African-American authors published by mainstream publishers. Reviews of new works by well-known authors Thulani Davis, Tanarive Due, Zakes Mda, Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Zadie Smith are also included in the seventh anniversary issue.
(Artwork: Stephanie Pui Mun Law's "Israfel, the Angel of Music")
VISIONS OF THE POETS REVEALED
The VISIONS OF THE POETS series debuted several weeks ago at the Z-Ped Music Player Express web site on AuthorsDen and in less than a month has attracted more than 800 readers.
The series began with a profile of the well-known neo-formalist poet Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU. It continued January 7, 2006, with an essay on David Hightower’s forthcoming collection, THE HANGING MAN DREAMS. These are two very different accomplished poets with two highly evolved visions of their art.
Bendavi ben-YEHU is as celebrated for powerfully charged commentaries on works by other writers as he is for his own brilliant poetic inquiries into spirituality, literary ethics, politics, religious organization, unconditional love, and philosophy. He is also, I’m honored to point out, the author of “The Onyx of Savannah,” the poem that graces this site’s welcome page.
David Hightower has been long known for his published works in literary journals and for helping to lead his former students in North Georgia to championship victories, not in basketball or football, but in high school literary magazine state competitions. His THE HANGING MAN DREAMS is an extraordinary volume of work that is long overdue and much anticipated.
With poets like these leading the charge from the literary trenches, 2006 is off to a winning start.
Skylark in soaring triumphant flight. (Art by Denise Elliot-Vernon)
Gift Books We Love Giving and Receiving
Twenty-first Century Poetry
The River of Winged Dreams
Works in verse on the rise of President Barack Obama, the life and death of Michael Jackson, the Virnginia Tech massacre, and the celebrated days and seasons of the modern world.
Literary fiction and poetry
I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY
An inspired celebration of spirituality, the music of language, and the power of dreams.
Poems by Aberjhani
THE BRIDGE OF SILVER WINGS
A poetic flight into the exploration of how human beings manage, or sometimes fail to manage, the transition from imminent personal destruction to unaccountable personal victory.
The American Poet Who Went Home Again
A shimmering collage of memoir, creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and dizzying flights into poetic observation, this is the amazing story of one writer’s rediscovery of his family, his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and himself.
LITERARY SAVANNAH (edited by Patrick Allen)
An exceptional historical literary anthology featuring writings by natives of and visitors to Savannah, from founding father George Washington to modern award-winning author Aberjhani.
