“My Mother and I, We Talk Cat” by Elise Stuart

Elise Stuart’s terrific new memoir is unorthodox. As a former Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County, she includes poems at scattered intervals, which illustrate the events and emotions of her youth. Her tale, while sequential, glosses over some years and characters and lingers on others. For example, we barely get to know the…

“Damnificados” wins Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction

The 2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards were presented on October 20, at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington D.C. Over 200 people attended. There were poets, novelists, academics, essayists, editors and publishing icons. It was a superb event. Three legendary figures were honored: the long-time civil rights activist-turned-bestselling-author Congressman John Lewis; poet and publisher Haki Madhubuti; and…

“Hatred and Pity”: James Baldwin in “I Am Not Your Negro”

Anyone interested in race and civil rights needs to see this film. It’s based on thirty pages of notes compiled by James Baldwin for a book about the most famous of the slain martyrs of the Civil Rights movement: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. The book was never written. “I Am Not Your…

Southwest Festival of the Written Word

The Southwest Festival of the Written Word took place September 29-October 1 in Silver City, New Mexico. The strangest thing about it is just how quickly it flies by. We spend two years inviting authors, writing grants, finding sponsors, locating venues, designing posters, organizing food and lodging, producing promotional material, handing out fliers, finding and…