Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Fire & Ink Presents! Heating up Nashville

Published
by
Samiya
on October 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. Closed

Fire & Ink Presents!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
CREATE Room, Hotel Preston
733 Briley Parkway, Nashville, TN 37217

It’s getting cold outside, but the weatherman says the sun is coming back to Nashville on Saturday. We have a good idea about the four reasons why: Laurinda, KMatador, Fiona, Marquette!

This has been a great year so far for Fire & Ink. We’re still course for Fire & Ink III: Cotillion and blazing our trail to Texas with event after fiery event from coast to coast.

Speaking of Texas, we had an awesome time at Dallas Southern Pride. Check out the great pictures by JW Richard at Mandrake Society Radio or the wonderful pics from Calvin Glenn of Black Gay USA by clicking here. Join us on Saturday afternoon, from 3pm - 5pm, to hear these dynamic authors share their work:

Laurinda D. BrownLaurinda D. Brown uses her writing to tell universal stories that apply to all cross-sections of society. She is the author of six novels, Fire & Brimstone, UnderCover, Walk Like a Man, Strapped, The Cathouse, and The Highest Price for Passion, and a contributing author to Zane’s Purple Panties. In 2007, Laurinda won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Erotica with her book of short stories, Walk Like a Man, which became a critically acclaimed stage play now in its third year of production. A graduate of Howard University, she writes about life, not lifestyles. She currently resides in the Atlanta metro area with her two daughters and her partner of twelve years, Charlotte.

The Highest Price for Passion: A century of unrest equals ten decades of change. The Highest Price for Passion uses as background one hundred years of the most volatile era to divide American soil, interspersed with the uncontrollable fervor from the unlikeliest of sources—when both master and mistress vie for the affections of a slave too beautiful to destroy, with a quiet intelligence neither can outwit.

Keith MontgomeryKeith Montgomery is an amateur bodybuilder, singer/songwriter and novelist. A native of New Jersey, Montgomery’s time in the military became material for his first book, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a story of a young black man coming out gay and HIV positive. Look for his next book, Family of Felons, coming soon.

In Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Bert grew up in a hostile, abusive, unstable family, but sought the American dream: a wife, a house and kids. His sexual relationships portrayed another story, and when Bert is diagnosed as HIV-positive, his self-destructive behavior spins out of control. Through his inner strength—and his grandmother’s religious strength—Bert is able to cope with the stigma of being HIV-positive, black and gay.

fiona_hi-res.jpgFiona Zedde lives and writes in Atlanta, Georgia with her partner. She is the author of the novels Bliss, A Taste of Sin, Every Dark Desire, and Hungry for It, as well as the novellas “Pure Pleasure,” “Going Wild” and the soon-to-be-published “Sweat,” which appear in the collections Satisfy Me, Satisfy Me Again, and Satisfy Me One More Time, respectively. Find out more at www.fionazedde.com.

In Hungry for It, her newest novel, Zedde presents Rémi Bouchard. With good looks, limitless sex appeal, and the wealth and popularity that comes from owning the city’s hottest jazz bar and restaurant, Rémi Bouchard can have anyone she wants. Lately though, the allure of wild one-night stands and no-strings flings is starting to wear thin. Rémi craves something more. At her best friend’s wedding, she looks across the crowd and finds exactly what she’s been searching for—an intense, soul-searing connection. But passion this deep has its dangers—especially when it means falling in love with the one person who should be off limits.

MarquetteCarney.jpgMarquette Carney has been writing poetry since he was 12. Carney, a native of West Tennessee, is the author of Swallow the Moon (2005), and Not What I Wanted, But What I Needed (2006); his most recent title is Love—Exotic or Toxic, released in September 2008 as a book and audio CD.

“Every relationship is either good (exotic) or bad (toxic),” says Marquette Carney in Love—Exotic or Toxic. His newest project is released as a book and audio CD, comprised of spoken words of love (be it exotic or toxic) fused with the sounds of jazz, R&B, neo-soul, and funk. From a tribute to domestic violence, “For All Your Tears,” to the heartfelt “Disappearing Act,” Love—Exotic or Toxic will take you on love’s journey of joy, pain, sunshine and rain. Welcome to love!

If you really wanna get down, check out Fire & Ink TV!
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The question of the day: Why are you headed to Fire & Ink? Got access to video? Send your video-response to fireandink2009@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to also subscribe to our YouTube channel, to friend us on MySpace, or join our Facebook Group!

For Black Gays, Writing is Power

Published
by
Samiya
on October 15, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

What are you doing a year from now? Kicking back and reminiscing about what a great time you had down in Austin at Fire & Ink III: Cotillion, that’s what!

Just ask Priscilla Hale, Director of Organizational Development at allgo. She’s waitin’ for you!

If you needed another reminder of what Fire & Ink is all about and why the festival is a can’t-miss event for writers, readers, literature and art lovers East and West, North and South, Kuma2.net is serving it up.

Republished today at Kuma2.net’s Spirit Space was Rev. Irene Monroe’s moving essay on the first Fire & Ink Festival, For Black Gays, Writing is Power.

The exclusion we experience from publishing houses and the literary world due to homophobia and/or racism, at best, departmentalizes our works as either black or queer; thus erasing the LGBT of African descent literary canon, and, at worst, rendering us invisible and muting our voice.

In a statement by Barbara Smith and Joseph Beam in March 1988 at the Second National Black Writers Conference at Medgar Evers College, in Brooklyn N.Y., they said, “In spite of efforts to ghettoize and exclude us, we are part of a long and proud Black Lesbian and Gay literary tradition. The Harlem Renaissance could not have occurred if it had not been for its Black and Gay participants, among them: Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman, Alain Locke, and R. Bruce Nugent.”

And Nugent was the only self-declared gay man in the bunch. “Harlem was very much like the village. People did what they wanted to do with whom they wanted to do it.”

The name of this conference, “Fire and Ink,” is a spin-off from the literary magazine FIRE!! that was published by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. For these gay writers, as for our present-day LGBT writers of African descent, their sexuality was as central to their work as their race. However, the sexual politics espoused in their opuses were censored, and consequently only one issue of FIRE!! made it to print. The reading out or weeding out of the queer experience in the Harlem Renaissance was due to patrons who would not support openly gay writers or due to relatives in charge of their estates who weeded out any implied references or overt pronouncements about their sexual behavior or sexual orientation.

Being both of African descent and queer creates a distinctive epistemology that shapes not only our identity but it also shapes our distinctive interpretative lens we zoom on the world about politics, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, arts, music.

Our method of identifying and “languaging” our way of identifying as both of African descent and queer is evident in the terms we use like “in the life” — an identifier, a code, that derives from the Harlem Renaissance. Another is the term “same-gender loving” that became popular in our queer lexicon in the 1990’s. Both terms are indeed a radical pronouncement for LGBT people of African descent, because they are statements about openly engaging in sexual behavior, mannerism and lifestyle outside of the accepted norm, and about naming it in the face of virulent homophobia in the black community that could very well cost them their careers if not their lives.

Why are you coming to Fire & Ink?

Published
by
Samiya
on October 6, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Fire & Ink III: Cotillion is on the way! Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers of African descent will be descending down to Austin, Texas, one year from tonight.

We thought it was about time we asked them why they aren’t going to miss it. We know why we aren’t. Calvin Glenn of Black Gay USA was among the first to respond.

How about you? Send us your videos at fireandink2009@gmail.com and tell us why you’re coming!

SAVE THE DATE!
Fire & Ink III: Cotillion
October 8-11, 2009
Austin, Texas

Fire & Ink Presents! is taking it to the Texas Heat!

Published
by
Samiya
on October 1, 2008
in Uncategorized and events
. 0 Comments

Fire & Ink Presents!
10 a.m.-12 noon Saturday, October 4, 2008
Regal Hall II, Sterling Hotel Dallas
1055 Regal Row, Dallas, Texas 75247

Just because Summer has faded into Fall doesn’t mean Fire & Ink is slowing down a whit. The heat is still on in Texas, and Fire & Ink is bringing a little heat of its own to this year’s Dallas Southern Pride weekend.

This has been a great year so far for Fire & Ink. We’re on course for Fire & Ink III: Cotillion and we’re blazing our trail there with event after event presenting blazing literary talent from coast to coast.

This year, our first for Fire & Ink Presents!, we have hosted dozens of authors at eight Black Pride celebrations from our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., to Newark, St. Louis, Portland, and Nashville!

Now we’re headed deep into the heart of Texas and we are not about to start slippin’! Join us at 10am on Saturday morning, October 4th, for an exciting event featuring four diverse and talented authors talking about their work, and reading delicious excerpts from their latest projects:

tejasSamiya Bashir’s collection of poetry, Where the Apple Falls, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Samiya’s upcoming collection of poetry, Gospel, is forthcoming in 2009. Samiya is also the editor of two groundbreaking anthologies: Best Black Women’s Erotica 2 and Role Call. Her poetry, stories, articles, essays and editorial work have been widely published. She will be MC for the event, discussing her new work, and reading briefly.

TimmTWestTim’m T. West is an author/publisher, poet, emcee, and activist who in 1999 co-founded Deep Dickollective, the black queer rap outfit known for putting the subgenre referenced as “Homo Hop” on the map. In 2003 he released a critically acclaimed poetic memoir Red Dirt Revival; in 2005, a chapbook, BARE. In July 2007 West released the highly anticipated Flirting through Red Dirt Publishing. Musically, he released his solo debut, Songs from Red Dirt on Cellular Records in 2004 and in July 2007, Blakkboy Blue(s). He has appeared in several documentaries including but not limited to Alex Hinton’s Pick Up the Mic (LOGO) and Byron Hurt’s Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (PBS/Independent Lens). In July 2008 West relocated to Houston, Texas, where he happily resides.

Flirting is Tim’m’s poignant follow-up to Red Dirt Revival: a poetic memoir in six breaths. Flirting is expressed through poetry, prose and essays; in it, West flirts with memory, girls, boys, danger, politics, and romance. He writes in the tradition of poets like Audre Lorde, Essex Hemphill and Pablo Neruda, who seize language as a tool reflecting social change while bridging political and erotic landscapes. Here, the distinction between the personal and political is beautifully blurred. While rooted in his experiences as black, gay-identified poet, emcee, activist, and educator, Flirting is an invitation to (re)connect others to that optimistic, joyful space where, even between rocks and hard places, hope springs eternal. Beyond word play, there is profound meaning and possibility in Flirting.

Michael-Christopher.jpgThis year, Michael-Christopher celebrates ten years of self-publishing success. Since 1998, Michael has written, illustrated and published a graphic novel compilation and three literary novels, including the Living the Life series and the critically acclaimed From Top to Bottom. A graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, Michael plans forthcoming collections of photography and sketches and the seventh installation in his graphic novel series. Unspeakable is Michael-Christopher’s fourth novel.

In Unspeakable, Rodney Franklin seeks the comfort of family and friends in his hometown of Philadelphia following a breakup with his partner. While reconnecting with his past, Rodney discovers he and a childhood friend both share a disturbing experience—they were both victims of child molestation at the hands of the same depraved man. In their attempt to right the wrongs of the past, Rodney and his friends find themselves in very present trouble. Amidst it all, Rodney’s old flame, Katrina, enters the picture in hopes of resuming her role as damsel in distress, but this time around, she finds Rodney is not the man she once knew.

Nikki_Rashan_hiresNikki Rashan uses her ability to tap into the depths of human nature to create emotionally honest and passionate stories of love and romance, mixed with bits of humor and suspense. In her writings, Rashan utilizes the energy she experienced through her coming out journey, which she openly shared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rashan is the loving mom of teenage twin girls. www.nikkirashan.com

Double Pleasure, Double Pain is the story of Kyla, a woman challenged by emerging affections toward Stephanie, a female classmate. Having lived a rather charmed life, 26-year-old Kyla has remained undisturbed within the comfort zone of her supportive family, loyal sweetheart and close-knit friends. But an unforeseen yet heart-awakening physical attraction and emotional bond forms between Kyla and Stephanie. What will Kyla do?



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