RedBone Press

Lisa C. Moore, founder of RedBone Press, with co-panelist Perry D. Varner, will speak on a panel, "A Story to Tell: Black, Gay & Silenced," from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 23, 2009 in Philadelphia. This event is part of Art Sanctuary's 25th annual "Celebration of Black Writing." Temple University, Ritter Hall Annex, Room 108, Cecil B. Moore Avenue at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.

At 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening, May 24, 2009, Lisa C. Moore will speak on a free authors' panel at Lambda Rising Bookstore in Washington, D.C. Other panelists include Craig Gidney (Sea, Swallow Me, Lethe Press), G. Winston James (Shaming the Devil, Top Pen Press) and Pamela Sneed (Kong and Other Works, Vintage Entity Press). Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009. 202-462-6969.

See you there!

Yes, all of Samiya Bashir's hard work over the past few years has come to fruition! If you're near or in Austin, Texas this weekend, please come and support the release of Gospel: poems with a reading by Samiya Bashir. It's happening 8 p.m. Saturday, April 11, 2009 at the Winship Drama Building, Room 2.180, 23rd and San Jacinto streets. Co-sponsored by The Austin Project and the Center for African & African-American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Yes, I was a surprise guest at The Black Lavender Experience. Some pictures below: playwrights Brian Freeman (Pomo Afro Homos, Civil Sex, among others), Daniel Alexander Jones (The Book of Daniel, among others) and Sharon Bridgforth (delta dandi, among others); Lisa C. Moore reading from Marvin K. White's last rights; Daniel Scott of Rhode Island College (co-editor, The Collected Writings of Wallace Thurman), moderating Andre Lancaster (Freedom Train Productions), Ernest Hardy (Blood Beats: Vol. 1 & 2), and Lisa C. Moore; and Karen Allen Baxter of Rites and Reason Theatre at Brown University.

RedBone Press authors are doing the do! Sharon Bridgforth was just in Chicago this week; you can read all about it here and here. She was also on Sippin on Ink on blogtalkradio; listen to her interview here. Ernest Hardy is on the way to New York to talk at College of Staten Island-CUNY on Monday, March 30, 2009, then on to Brown University April 2-4, where he will meet up with Sharon Bridgforth and other theater and performance luminaries for conversation and performance at the Black Lavender Experience. G. Winston James has started his own press and is on tour with his fabulous new book, Shaming the Devil; he's in New York City this weekend. And, of course, Samiya Bashir is gearing up for all things Gospel. Stay tuned for more Gospel next week, when the books finally, finally arrive!

...so if you'll be in Chicago attending the AWP writers conference, feel free to come to one or both of the panels that RedBone Press is participating in.

First up: "Finding the Needle in the Haystack: Marketing Strategies for Indie Publishers." Staff members from Milkweed Editions, Melville House Publishers, RedBone Press, Four Way Books, and The Missouri Review share how they make their books and magazines known to readers given the availability of 700,000 titles and oodles of magazines. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, 3-4:15 p.m. at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL.

Second: "Art and Politics in Publishing the Literature of Writers from the African Diaspora." Panelists are Brenda Greene, Esther Armah, Regina Brooks, Parneisha Jones, Lisa C. Moore, Haki Madhubuti. The publishing of literature by writers from the African diaspora is in transition. Although there is a greater demand for this literature and an increase in self-publishing and digitalized books, these writers find it increasingly difficult to publish and market their work. Book review sections are disappearing, mid list literary fiction is not being published and there is a rise in urban street fiction. Writers, publishers, and agents discuss the challenges faced by these writers and the impact of culture, politics and the economy on publishing. Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, 10:30-11:45 a.m. at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL.

See you there!