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Stop by and enter to win a copy of this FABULOUS book, THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA! Contest ends midnight PST November 14, 2008!

Hello Book Clubs and Reading Enthusiasts,

I want to invite you to register for the Richard Wright Centennial Symposium on Saturday, November 8, 2008 at the African American Museum in Historic Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The presenters, all Richard Wright Scholars, will discuss the impact Wright's body of work has had on the American literary scene. This discussion is most appropriate as America faces current political and social challenges. This is a unique opportunity to reflect on our country's historical transitions.

I am as passionate about this great American literary icon as he was about reading everything he could get his hands on as a teenager and young adult growing up in the Jim Crow South. I read Black Boy as a twenty year old junior in college, and as a forty year old parent. Now as a sixty four year old woman, I want Richard Wright's works to challenge the intellect of every generation.

Our luncheon speaker will be Quentin Wright, speech and communications professor at Mountain View Community College in Dallas, Texas. Professor Wright recently led a Black Cinematheque audience in a vibrant discussion following the viewing of the film Black Boy .

Your registration for the Richard Wright Centennial will help the African American Museum plan accordingly. Please mark your calendar for the schedule of events listed below. See you at the museum.

Emma Rodgers
esrodgers1@gmail.com

 

A Legend in His Own Wright : A Centennial Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Richard Wright @ African American Museum – Historic Fair Park – Dallas, Texas

Friday, November 7, 2008 :

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Opening Reception - Poetic Tribute to Richard Wright

Saturday, November 8, 2008

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – On-site registration

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – Wright Celebration Opening

Session I

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr. – Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana
"Richard Wright: Readings of International Cultures and Politics"

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Dr. Maryemma Graham –University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
"Making the Wright Connection: A Centennial Journey "

Luncheon* 11:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m
Noon – Mr. Quentin Wright, Mountain View Community College, Dallas, Texas
"The Enduring Lessons of Richard Wright"

Session II

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Dr. James A. Miller, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
"Four Theses on Reading Richard Wright in the 21 st Century"

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Derek C. Catsam, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas
"Richard Wright and Black Resistance to White Supremacy: From Bigger Thomas to Henry Thomas – Bigger Thomas and Public Transportation"

2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Closing
Dr. Harry Robinson, Jr., African American Museum, Dallas, Texas
"Moving in the Wright Direction"

The registration form is attached for you convenience. For more information please visit www.aamdallas.org and click on the Richard Wright icon, or call Dr. Emma Dawson at 214.565.9026 ext 307.

*Julia Wright, Richard Wright's daughter, was originally scheduled as the luncheon speaker, but due to illness she will not be able to attend.

http://www.thegrits.com/radio/?p=74

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Tune in to hear Yvonne Perry talk excitedly about her new ebook, 'Book Marketing in the Digital Age, Online Promotion Made Easy!'

http://www.tywebbin.com/next/2008/10/monday-market...

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Authors do you, SQUIDOO? If you don't you are definitely missing out on a great way and FREE place to promote and market your book and talents as a writer online! So check out this Marketing Tip!

From The Black List Project, a documetary film that gives insights on the struggles, triumphs, and joys of black life in this country and manages to re-define "blacklist" for a new century in the process, is. . . Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks talking about the African-American connection to the non-living in her debut, Getting Mother's Body

Click to view the video clip now - http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=174

Getting Mother's Body
Suzan-Lori Parks
Random House Trade Paperback, April 13, 2004
$13.95 US; ISBN: 081296800X

Parks, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for her play Topdog/Underdog, puts her dramatic skills to good use in this fluid, assured debut novel, the story of a sweaty road trip from Texas to Arizona in July 1963. When stubborn 16-year-old Billy Beede gets knocked up and jilted by her sweet-talking, coffin-salesman lover, she needs money for an abortion. Her wild mother, Willa Mae, died when Billy was 10, and Billy lives with her "childless churchless minister Uncle and one-legged church-hopping Aunt" in a mobile home behind their rural Texas gas station. Billy's only hope for serious cash is to dig up her mother's body from its grave in LaJunta, Ariz., where Willa Mae was buried wearing a diamond ring and a pearl necklace. That, at least, is the story told by Willa Mae's one-time lover, Dill, a six-foot-tall "bulldagger, dyke, lezzy, what-have-you."

Billy steals Dill's truck and, together with her aunt and uncle, embarks on a trip to Arizona to find her mother's body, her mother's treasure and her mother's memory. With disgruntled Dill in hot pursuit (chauffeured by Billy's dogged suitor, Laz, misfit son of the local funeral parlor owner), the three travel through the racist Southwest, meeting up with relatives, friends and foes. Parks narrates her brief chapters from the point of view of different characters, giving each a distinctive voice; blues songs are interwoven with the text. Parks's influences are evident-among them Zora Neale Hurston and Faulkner's As I Lay Dying-but the novel's easy grace and infectious rhythms are all her own. Fueled by irresistible, infectious talk and prose that swings like speech, this novel begs (no surprise) to be read aloud.

About the Author Suzan-Lori Parks is a novelist, playwright, songwriter, and screenwriter. She was the recipient of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/ Underdog, as well as a 2001 MacArthur "genius grant." A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she studied with James Baldwin, she has taught creative writing in universities across the country, including at the Yale School of Drama, and she heads the Dramatic Writing Program at CalArts. She is currently writing an adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel Paradise for Oprah Winfrey, and the musical Hoopz for Disney. She lives in Venice Beach, California, with her husband, blues musician Paul Scher, and their pit bull, Lambchop.

Have you ever wondered where the idea for The Bluest Eyes came from?
Click to view and find out - http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=165

The Bluest Eyes
Toni Morrison
Vintage, May 8, 2007
$13.00 US; ISBN: 0307278441

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison's virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.

About the Author TONI MORRISON has been the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Princeton University. She lives in Rockland County, New York, and Princeton, New Jersey.

The Black List
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders & Elvis Mitchell
Atria, September 16, 2008
$29.95 US; ISBN: 1416594191

In The Black List, authors Mitchell and Greenfield-Sanders offer a thought-provoking, conversational collection of twenty-five portraits and essays by powerful, trailblazing African Americans. Spanning the arts, sports, politics, and business, the diverse accomplishments and lives of these remarkable individuals create a kaleidoscope of ideas and experiences, and provide the framework for a singular conversation about the influence of African-Americans on this country and on our world.

The Black List is: Slash; Toni Morrison; KeenEn Ivory Wayans; Vernon Jordan; Faye Wattleton; Marc Morial; Serena Williams; Lou Gossett Jr.; Russell Simmons; Lorna Simpson; Mahlon Duckett; Zane; Al Sharpton; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; William Rice; Thelma Golden; Sean Combs; Susan Rice; Chris Rock; Suzan-Lori Parks; Steve Stoute; Richard Parsons; Dawn Staley; Colin Powell; Bill T. Jones

Click to view book trailer!

BLACK CAUCUS OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
http://www.bcala.org/
---
NO ENTRY FEE
The Committee will present three prizes of $500 each for adult books written by African American authors: a First Novelist Award, a Fiction Award and a Nonfiction Award.

The First Novelist Award is given to recognize an outstanding work by a first time African American fiction writer. Honor Book citations are also awarded in fiction and nonfiction without any accompanying monetary remuneration.

Additionally, an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing citation is provided to an author and/or publishing company for unique books that offer a positive depiction of African Americans. Books from small, large and specialty publishers are welcome for review consideration. Titles forwarded for review must be published between January 2008 and December 2008. Deadline December 19, 2008.

http://thegrits.com/virtualbooktour/?p=218

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Other than a physical relationship, what are some other aspects men want in a relationship? Have some thoughts about what men want in a relaionship? Join the tour and tell us!

http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=74

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Brief and to the point, this novel takes readers deep inside the mind of a sexual predator. Check it out!

http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=110

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Jill Scott fans, click to see her reading from her book of poetry The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours - AWESOME!

http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=93

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The infamous Rev. Curtis Black is back; check out the review!

http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/bookreviews/?p=128

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ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love is the collaborative efforts of two of Savannah, Georgia’s most acclaimed creative artists. Check it out!

You're invited to . . .

A Love For All Times Virtual Book Tour Romance Conference Call with LaConnie Taylor-Jones and her mentor, National Bestselling Author, Beverly Jenkins!

Hosted by The GRITS COM Literary Service

When: Friday, August 15, 2008
Time: 5 PM PST/ 7 PM CST/ 8 PM EST
How to Participate: Dial 1-218-936-7999 then enter the Access code 325446 (you press 325446 then the pound key)

Authors LaConnie Taylor-Jones and Beverly Jenkins will be discussing this evening the Romance Industry, the evolution of African American Romance, and how their roles and experiences as Black women have impacted their writing and their relationship.

This is a conference call you don't want to miss! So please arrive early for this will be a recorded session and will be in presentation mode during the discussion so that everyone on the call will be able to listen in clearly. Our conference call line will be opened up at the end of their discussion so participants can ask questions and show LaConnie and Beverly some *LUV* before the call ends!

About Mentor and National Bestselling Author, Beverly Jenkins

Beverly Jenkins has received numerous awards, including: the Detroit Free Press Book of the Year, 5 Waldenbooks Best Seller Awards, 2 Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times magazine, and a Gold Pen Award from the Black Writers Alliance. In 1999, Ms. Jenkins was voted one of the Favorite 50 African-American Authors of the 20th Century by AALBC.com, the nation's largest online African-American book club.

Ms. Jenkins has been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe Magazine. She has lectured at such prestigious universities as Oberlin University; the University of Illinois; and the University of Michigan. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history at libraries, schools and organizations including Romance Writers of America, and the Afro – American Historical and Genalogical Society.

Beverly is active in her church and community, and in November 2001 was a recipient of the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award. She was born in 1951 on the day after Valentine's Day, which is perfect for a romance writer! Visit Beverly Jenkins online today!

Catch the A Love For All Times Virtual Book Tour in progress - http://www.thegrits.com/virtualbooktour

"Old School" romance writer, LaConnie Taylor-Jones is back, and her first virtual book tour with The GRITS COM Literary Service will be coming to a computer screen near you, August 4-29, 2008!!

Attention Cyber Travelers! You're invited to join 'Old School' romance writer, LaConnie Taylor-Jones, on her month long virtual book tour celebratng her latest release, When a Man Loves a Woman!

In When a Man Loves a Woman, handsome Dr. Alcee Jules (AJ) Baptiste is determined to find answers to two questions: What do you do when you are in love with a woman who won't give you the time of day? How do you convince her that she really is meant to spend the rest of her life with you when she avoids you at all costs? A. J. knows that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Victoria (Vic) Bennett. But Vic wants nothing to do with love, and even less to do with him. So what is A. J. to do? He will do what a man has to do -- resort to a bit of scheming to win her over! And when he does, Victoria Bennett will confess that when a man loves a woman, it really is . . . a love for all times!

For those who doubt the healing and restorative powers of love, 'When a Man Loves a Woman' by LaConnie Taylor-Jones, is a wonderful testament to those powers and more!

What are readers saying about When a Man Loves a Woman ? . . .

"When a Man Loves a Woman is a great read. I loved it, loved it, loved it. I laughed and cried and laughed some more. Couldn't put it down... Wonderful love/suspense story." - Carmen Harris, Georgia

"Once again I found myself caught up in the loving familial bond, the intense drama, and the humorous moments with the Baptiste family and their circle of friends." - Malaika Tamu, New Jersey

A Love For All Times Virtual Book Tour begins Monday, August 4, 2008 and ends on Friday, August 29, 2008. So pick up your copy of When a Man Loves a Woman wherever books are sold and join the tour!

Join the tour in progress now!