Literature Festivals! If poetry is the new rock and roll - (well it always was) - LitFests are the new Rock Fests - just better :-)
Music
African, Salsa (no, not world music - what's that about) Reggae Old Skool, Old Old Soul, non-sexist hip-hop
Movies
The X Men. Movies that make me cry.
Television
Not working.
Books
African Literature;Black British Literature, Caribbean Literature. (I'm into Paulo Coelho's books at the moment and I wish I could write like Jhumpa Lahiri). Occasionally, I have book competitions on my website http://www.sablelitmag.org/writingcomp2.htm
There are three at the moment, the first one has a 3 november deadline...
Heroes
Susan L. Taylor (Essence Magazine), Oprah Winfrey, Winnie Mandela, Marilyn Comrie (Leadergen), Malcolm X and anyone who features on the cover of SABLE.
About me: ..
I'm a literary activist, editor and publisher. I publish a magazine called Sable. Love me, love my SABLE :
Sable LitMag is a 132 page black and white international publication, for writers of colour. We also offer training through e-internships, professional development for writers throughcourses and workshops, and a Reading Series, that brings Sable LitMag 'live and off the page' with regular performances and readings around the globe including an International LitFest. In 2005, it was in Brixton, South London. In 2007, it will be in The Gambia, West Africa. A one week writers retreat will take place in The Gambia, too.
Sable LitMag provides a space for new writers to showcase their work and provides readers with an opportunity to read new work by published and unpublished authors plus useful and interesting literary information in a format that is aesthetically as important as the written word.
http://www.sablelitmag.org
I'm also the General Secretary for the African Writers Abroad PEN Centre www.africanwritersabroad.co.uk
and the series editor for Inscribe, the new imprint for writers of African and Asian descent for Peepal Tree Press
www.peepaltreepress.com
"Literature is the most beautiful of countries."
Jose Marti Poet and Essayist, 1853-1895
Who I'd like to meet: The people I'd like to meet I put on the front cover of Sable! So far we have had, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Sonia Sanchez, Niyi Osundare, Marita Golden, Chinua Achebe, Walter Mosley - writer activists.
Those to come - Nawal el Saadawi, Denis Brutus, Kamau Brathwaite, solid people.
The one person I'd like to meet who I haven't met is Prince. Otherwise, my list looks pretty much like Courttia Newland's (which is probably one reason why we are good friend's)
myspace.com/courttianewland
except, I have met Nelson Mandela....he shook my hand...I didn't wash it for three days...
It's a rainy Friday here. Great weather for writing. I'm waiting for the proof copy of A Demon Awaits to arrive and just getting down to work on my next book.
Greetins n Blessed…BACK AGAIN for next GIG!Much Thanks 4 being in our circle n for the Support!Thanks for this ad!Hope to see u on Thursday, 1st MAY Blessed Love, Jah Guide n Protect Sista Kia.
We love SABLE we doooo! The lifest was really special-an incredible experience-truly!Such a priviledge to hear from so many talented people in workshops or readings. Thank you making it all possible.
We did an interview with you? Several years ago when either Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made or Far From the Tree was out in the UK. It's nice to find you on MySpace and we hope all is well!
i meant to leave some words sooner, but you know how life gets in the way sometimes. it was great meeting you at AWP in march and i'm still enjoying the sable magazines i bought :)
Issue 1 comes to life with Darby Larson's "Electroencephalography" where an experiment in robot-building goes terribly awry. And if you've ever woken up with an unexpected physical deformity—say, an arrow in your heart—you'll truly enjoy the next story. There's also a smattering of flash fiction and psychedelia; a straight-out story where things aren't what they seem, poetry that takes you from the perverse to the sublime, some magic realism, science fiction, and a few letters to another species thrown in for good measure. We haven't forgotten those of you with a literary bent. In addition, the artwork in this issue is particularly strong, with oil paintings, watercolors, photography, and photo illustrations complementing the words with which they are paired.
Hi, just stopping by to wish you a happy Sunday, and to let you know that the new Rain book, Requiem for an Assassin, comes out on May 22. I'll be on the road for a month promoting it, in the San Francisco Bay Area (Menlo Park, San Mateo, Santa Rosa), Seattle, Ft. Lewis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Boulder, Houston, Ft. Hood, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Carmel (Indianapolis), Bethesda (DC), West Chester (Philadelphia), NYC. Details on my profile page. If you're around for one of these events, come on by -- it would be great to see you!
Greetings Kadija/Sable
The new issue is beyond words. The interview with Brathwaite gives all a vast amount of geopoltical, art/expression and cultural issues and concepts to debate.
A poem for your day:
.
.
Rest In All Love Is
------------------
I love you like this...
dark, i can barely see your eyes...
so dark my eyes are useless. My
heart opens wide its light on you
and your face brightens like the
static on a TV screen, or like the moment
we die and things begin to go all white
and
then
you're an angel laying before me...
the same one that has been there all along,
the one my eyes turned into something else and I
am ashamed I was deceived.
Then,
I see you, I see you like the energy that flows through my limbs,
now, like the breath that takes the universe and
gently creates another, now, like my feet walking
on glass, now, like I was never there.
I love you like I was never there. So gently, never there. In the dark
where I can barely see, and, rest in all that love is.
Greetings, Kadija and the good folk at Sable. Just a quickie to say 'hi' and keep doing the needful. Thanks, too, for the genuine and generous support over the last few years. It has not been forgotten.
Shiromi
