All Articles Tagged "african american literature"
She’s Backkkk: Sister Souljah Returns With Follow Up To ‘Coldest Winter Ever’
On Tuesday, news broke that New York Times Bestselling Author, Sister Souljah will be releasing a follow up novel to the urban classic and cautionary tale Coldest Winter Ever January 2013. This is probably some of the best news to hit African-American literature since, well, I don’t when, but this is huge.
According to publisher Emily Besler Books, an imprint of Atria Books, the novel will revisit the lives of the Santiaga clan; however, this time the story will be told from the perspective of the middle child, Porshe Santiaga. If you remember, the original novel followed the life of Winter, the Santiagas’ oldest child, as she went from being an extremely pampered daughter of a drug-lord to being just about homeless, yet still fighting to live the life of luxury that she was accustomed to. Die hard Coldest Winter Ever fans are probably eager to see what Porshe has to say as she was probably the one hardest hit by the demise of the Santiaga drug empire, losing one parent to jail and the other to the grave. A press release appearing on Blacknews.com offers a brief synopsis of what readers can expect.
Porsche is young and beautiful, loyal to her family and friends, and unafraid to fight and love with the same extreme intensity. Readers are sure to be drawn to this coming-of-age story, told in Sister Souljah’s magnificent signature style.
This is great considering the first novel ended leaving so many loose ends and unanswered questions. Was Santiaga ever released from jail? What did Winter do when she was released from prison? Did she snitch? Did Midnight continue to raise the Santiaga twins after their mom died? What will become of Santiaga’s illegitimate child? Hopefully this follow up will provide answers to those burning questions.
I’ll try my best to contain my excitement, but I’ve been missing Winter and the Sanitagas since I first read Coldest Winter Ever when I was twelve. Sister Souljah is a literary genius and I can’t wait until this next book drops.
What about you? Will you be picking up your copy of A Deeper Love Inside when it’s released in January?
Jazmine Denise is a news writer for madamenoire.com. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise
50 Books That Every African American Should Read
Source: education.ezinemark.com
From blackvoices.com
Whether you’re traveling on vacation, sunbathing on the beach, or simply lounging in the park, nothing beats a good book in the summertime. Still, with so many options at one’s disposal, deciding on a title can prove difficult.
Huffington Post BlackVoices has compiled an extensive book list, featuring a range of genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, science-fiction and the autobiography.
From Ralph Ellison to Jesmyn Ward, many of the authors have been heralded with national awards in the United States. Others, such as Zadie Smith and Tsitsi Dangarembga, have broken literary ground abroad in countries such as Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Uganda. Stemming back to 1789 with Olaudah Equiano’s “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,” these 50 titles have heavily contributed to contemporary narratives about the black experience across the globe.
Check out the list at blackvoices.com
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Best New Books by African American Authors
The Christmas holiday is nearly upon us so it’s time to make those lists and check them twice. Instead of buying your dad another tie and your little sister another sweater,why not give the gift of a great book? Also, if you’re going to spend dollars on literature, it’s always good to support Black authors who tell our stories from our perspective. Want another great reason to give your family and friends the gift of reading? You won’t have to throw ‘bows at the mall trying to grab the hottest video game or coolest cashmere. No one’s acting a fool at the bookstore. While you’re there, don’t forget to pick up a little something for yourself to enjoy. Unsure of which title to choose? Here are our picks for the best books by African American authors that have been released in the last 18 months.
Bookstore Holds on to Black Power in San Francisco
(KALW) — In San Francisco, Fillmore-based Marcus Books has been a hub for the neighborhood’s black community since it opened in 1959. Founders Julian and Raye Richardson believed it was the first African American bookstore in America. A lot has changed since it opened – these days, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the poetry of Langston Hughes share shelf space with books like Justify My Thug and Heartbreak of a Hustler’s Wife.
‘The GQ Candidate’: Pundit Keli Goff Pens Novel About Fictional Black President
by Ezinne Adibe
If you’re a political junkie chances are you’ve read her columns on The Huffington Post or TheLoop21, or seen her on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News offering commentary on the issues of the day. In Keli Goff’s 2008 book, “Party-Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Independence”, she explored the shifting perspectives and impact of young black voters on the electoral process, with particular focus on the last presidential election. Her latest book, “The GQ Candidate”, is a fictional peek into the lives of candidates and the multiple realities and expectations they face. But as the book illustrates, these situations weigh heavily not only on the candidates, but on their families as well.
TAP: What was the inspiration behind “The GQ Candidate”?
Goff: One of the things that stuck out to me during the election was that some of the people who I was most fascinated with were the people who were not running for President. I was completely fascinated by Michelle Obama and completely fascinated by Valerie Jarrett. I was even fascinated by the Palin family, and I remember there was this interview that some of Sarah Palin’s friends did shortly after she got pledged for the ticket. It was fascinating, because here you have these people who were just friends with someone and all of a sudden they’re on “Good Morning America”, or some other show like a week later. In one week their lives changed. So, I was really intrigued by that, and I had this idea of writing something about what it’s like to have your life completely change simply because someone that you’re friends with has their life change overnight.
TAP: How long did it take you to write it?
Goff: It felt like forever, but it was literally sold days after the president was elected. I had written only the first three chapters when we sold it. I had been writing off and on trying to finish it. So, it’s taken since that first week in November of 2008.
TAP: Luke Cooper, the main character, is a politician and family man who, although having achieved a great deal in the realm of politics, struggles to an extent with his identity. Did you draw on your personal experiences when writing?
Goff: I have worked on campaigns. That’s how I got my start in this whole political sphere. I definitely had some experiences. People don’t realize that an A-list celebrity is obviously under a lot of scrutiny, although the difference is that every person that they associate with is not. That’s what I really wanted to convey with this book, and the issue of identity is part of that.
If your best friend becomes Beyonce no one cares what religion you practice. If your boyfriend or girlfriend runs for office everyone cares about what religion you practice, your mom practices, your dad practices. Here is a story about someone who has this unique racial and religious identity, and then you have his wife, who is is just trying to live her life to the best of her abilities. But even she is pulled into this debate, if you will, about what it means to be black, what it means to be a Christian, and what it means to be an American, simply because she fell in love with someone. I really wanted to try to touch upon what that must be like.
High School Sweethearts Make the Write Choice
Video: Founder of African-American Literature Book Club On Supporting Our Works
Troy Johnson founded the African American Literature Book Club (AALBC) in 1998 to nurture the love of reading African American books amongst African American readers. He’s certainly made a lot of headway. It’s now one of the most popular websites of its kind online. TAP correspondent Kevin Brown sat down with Johnson to discuss the success and the impact of his website and organization.
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Does Bookstore’s Black Section Harm Black Books?
(AOL Black Voices) — “As an author and a former bookstore employee, anything that potentially makes a book harder to find could be a concern,” Danielle Evans, the author of the lauded Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, told BlackVoices. “I have on occasion walked out of a bookstore or bought something else after not finding a book that I was looking for in the lit section, and then blocks away realized I should have asked if it was in the af-am section, because it can be hard to remember which stores shelve what where, and which stores have African-American sections.”
Tayari Jones: Author of ‘Silver Sparrow’ Strikes Gold
(The Root) — With the publication of her third novel, Silver Sparrow, things are happening to author Tayari Jones that rarely happen to writers, especially writers who are women. And these things that are happening to Tayari Jones almost never happen to writers who are African-American women. Even before Silver Sparrow was bound and ready to be bought, her publishing company, Algonquin Books, hosted a series of luncheons, filled the room with booksellers and brought in just one author — Jones — to meet the people who decide which books to place on prominent display, recommend to readers and sell. Also unheard of in publishing: Algonquin then sent Jones on a tour of not three, not 10, not 20 — but 40 cities around the country.
How Cash Money Got the Rights to Iceberg Slim's Work
(SOHH) — I think the influence of my father’s books really comes from [courtesy of] the Internet. If it wasn’t for the Internet, we would have never really taken hold of his book catalogue. His royalties weren’t really good. My father passed away in 1992 and not too much later, around 199, my sister started doing a little bit of research. It seemed like my father was already out there but the Internet definitely helped spread his works out a lot. I was very pleased and a bit surprised to see there was so much about him out there, especially in different languages. So we started realizing my father had a big thing going on. I was very proud. He was a great writer and a really good dad, something he never writes about. That story was never told.
