Stay tuned here for photos, videos, and more information about all that happened. Also, keep an eye out for Nikky Finney’s rousing Keynote Address, which will be uploaded here soon.

Were you there? Please click over to the Fire & Ink Facebook Group to share your experience, and upload your pics and videos to the Group where those who couldn’t make it – and those who could – can relive the wonderful time we all created together.

Keep an eye out for more information about future Fire & Ink events coming soon …

In the meantime, Fire & Ink still needs your support now more than ever! Click here to find out how you can help us keep the momentum going now and into the future!

Most of all — thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

-Fire & Ink, Inc.

Check out these wonderful pictures.

* Special note: Those in red were in attendance at Fire & Ink I or have participated in subsequent Fire & Ink events! Make sure you don’t miss them next time by signing up for our e-update list in the top corner of our web site above!

LGBT ANTHOLOGIES

• Our Caribbean, edited by Thomas Glave, Duke University Press

LGBT NONFICTION

• If I Could Write This in Fire, Michelle Cliff, Univ of Minnesota Press
• Heterosexual Africa? The History of an Idea from the Age of Exploration to the Age of AIDS, Marc Epprecht, Ohio University Press
• Blood Beats: Vol. 2 / the bootleg joints, Ernest Hardy, RedBone Press
• Drifting Toward Love, Kai Wright, Beacon Press

LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION

• Passing for Black, Linda Villarosa, Kensington

LESBIAN EROTICA

• Hungry for It, Fiona Zedde, Kensington
• Purple Panties: An Eroticonair.com Anthology, Zane, Simon and Schuster

LESBIAN POETRY

• Matching Skin, Shirlette Ammons, Carolina Wren Press

LESBIAN ROMANCE

• Building Sasha, Renee Bess, Regal Crest Enterprises

GAY DEBUT FICTION

• Finlater, Shawn Stewart Ruff, Quote Editions
• Ready to Male, Lamar Ariel, Author House
  

GAY EROTICA

• Flesh to Flesh, edited by Lee Hayes, Simon and Schuster

GAY FICTION

• The Highest Price for Passion, Laurinda D. Brown, Atria/Simon & Schuster
• Unspeakable, Michael Christopher, MC Books
• People Like Us, Doug Cooper-Spencer, Lulu Enterprises
• The Torturer’s Wife, Thomas Glave, City Light Publishers

GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

• Hiding in Hip Hop, Terrance Dean, Simon and Schuster

GAY POETRY

• Please, Jericho Brown, New Issues
• Sticks and Stones, Reginald T. Jackson, Xlibris
• Narrative of the Life of the Brown Boy and the White Man, Ronaldo Wilson, University of Pittsburgh Press

GAY ROMANCE

• Got ’til it’s Gone, Larry Duplechan, Arsenal Pulp Press

Fire & Ink III: Cotillion is on the way! Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers of African descent will be descending to Austin, Texas, from October 8 to October 11, 2009, for the greatest gathering of literary fierceness on earth. Writer and commentator Doug Cooper-Spencer won’t be missing the Cotillion.How about you? Send us your videos at fireandink2009@gmail.com and tell us why you’re coming!

Fire & Ink III: CotillionOctober 8-11, 2009
Austin, Texas

Original music (c) Phillip Alexander.

Check out this slick new ad for the upcoming Fire & Ink III: Cotillion! Want to share it? Well thank ye very much!

Grab the code here!

And check out your community lgbt-black-writer-supporting media outlets — we just might show up there! How about yours?

The full proposal deadline is March 30, 2009, but already the exciting ideas are pouring forth, including the engagement of visual artists and literary artists dialoguing about how we support each other in the work.

Stay tuned for more information, coming in March, about registration, our host hotel, and the beautiful conference site. Many thanks to everyone in the Austin community who came together to support our efforts, especially to Stephanie Lang and Johnathan Fleming at the University of Texas’ John L. Warfield Center for African & African American Studies.

While together, we handled a lot of business but we also got to party a little bit after taking a break to check out delta dandi, former Fire & Ink board member Sharon Bridgforth’s newest groundbreaking play.

Sign up on our e-mail list, subscribe to our YouTube Channel, join our Facebook Group and stay informed, share the word, and get involved with Fire & Ink. If you’ve missed it before, now is your chance to join us in making history happen — one letter at a time!

We’ve just received a bucketful of abstracts on topics so fierce we’re going to make you wait on bated breath for a minute before we drop it on ya.

Fire & Ink’s Board of Directors is getting together with a group of our extended planning team for a Fire & Ink 2009 Board Retreat in Austin, Texas, from January 9-11th. We’ll be reviewing submissions, enjoying the scenery at Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change, and checking out Sharon Bridgforth’s production of delta dandi, her newest performance piece happening in Austin, Texas, that same weekend.

Our plates will certainly be full all weekend and, just like this October, it will be well worth the trip.

But just because the Abstracts deadline has passed doesn’t mean you’ve missed your opportunity to get in on the hottest ticket in arts and letters since, well, Fire & Ink I. Full proposals are due March 6th so download the Request for Proposals and let your ideas flow.

We’ll also be accepting submissions from writers for various events soon, so keep your eyes out for more news and get on the list to stay updated!

Want to get even more involved? Fire & Ink is looking for volunteers from across the country to help us put on the show! Contact us to find out more information about volunteer opportunities both at the Cotillion and all year round!

Are you still on the fence about heading down to Texas this fall? Hope Warrior Jomama Jones will be there and hopes to spend some time with you. Now you wouldn’t want to disappoint Jomama would you? Nah. We didn’t think so. Check out her video below:

A new year is upon us and some black LGBT writers (you know who you are our media darlings) are letting us know that it’s all about change.

Fire & Ink III: Cotillion is all over it. Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers of African descent are already making plans to head on down to Austin, Texas, from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11, 2009 for Fire & Ink III: Cotillion.

Since our first event in Chicago in 2002 through our upcoming national festival, Fire & Ink, Inc. has been recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for LGBTQ writers of African descent.

We’ve asked people all over why they are coming to The Cotillion. Writer and UT Professor Dr. Matt Richardson will be there. “So much happens at Fire & Ink,” said Dr. Richardson. “You’re going to be really sad if you miss it.”

The theme of Cotillion was conceived to acknowledge that some of the best creative and cultural work being produced today is created, supported, and/or inspired by LGBT writers and artists of African descent.

Cotillion will create a one-of-a-kind experience where creative artists can meet and work together in an open and supportive environment that fosters the freedom to be who we are and encourages us to live to our best potential.

In a world where our contributions are often ignored, silenced or written out of history, Cotillion is our creative, declarative coming out festival where we as artists affirm the power and significance of our lives and our work.

GET THE PODCAST

http://fireandink.blip.tv/rss/itunes/
– or –
http://tinyurl.com/fire-inkpodcast

Download our Request for Proposals and get in on it! Fire & Ink: Cotillion will bring together hundreds of LGBT writers of African descent whose work spans the genres, including: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, multi-media arts and performance arts. Attendees include writers and scholars, as well as editors, publishers, curators, audio and visual artists, students, teachers, thinkers, media professionals, readers and art lovers.

Fire & Ink has already had a great deal of interest. You can help by submitting a <1,000 word abstract by January 6, 2009, to let us know what you’re thinking and ensure priority consideration.

Abstracts should be submitted by email to fireandink2009@yahoo.com.

For more information about Fire & Ink, Inc. visit www.fireandink.org.
For more information, download the full RFP here.
Come out, come out wherever you are!

Come make history with us!

How about you?
Why will you be there?
(Because you know you will.)
Send us your videos at fireandink2009@gmail.com
and tell us why you’re coming!

Writers, readers, publishers, critics, songwriters, screenwriters, artists, art lovers and culture vultures worldwide heard it here: Don’t just be there — bring it.

The first day of Kwanzaa, December 26th, celebrates Umoja, or Unity. Fire & Ink is recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for GLBT writers of African descent.

Fire & Ink III: Cotillion is on the way! Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer writers of African descent will be descending to Austin, Texas, from October 8 to October 11, 2009, for the greatest gathering of literary fierceness on earth.

Steven, Robert & Anthony are going to expand their minds & “get their lives”.

How about you? Why will you be there? (Because you know you will.)
Send us your videos at fireandink2009-at-gmail.com and tell us why you’re coming!

Fire & Ink: Cotillion will bring together hundreds of LGBT writers of African descent whose work spans the genres, including: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, multi-media arts and performance arts. Attendees include writers and scholars, as well as editors, publishers, curators, audio and visual artists, students, teachers, thinkers, media professionals, readers and art lovers.

Download our Request for Proposals and get in on it!

Fire & Ink has already had a great deal of interest.

You can help by submitting a <1,000 word abstract by January 6, 2009, to let us know what you’re thinking and ensure priority consideration. Abstracts should be submitted by email to fireandink2009@yahoo.com.

For more information about Fire & Ink, Inc. visit www.fireandink.org.

For more information, download the full RFP here.