James E. Cherry is the founder/president of The Griot Collective of West Tennessee, a 501(c)(3) literary arts organization where he conducts a monthly poetry workshop.  He serves as Artist in Residence for the Tennessee Arts Commission with a primary focus of dealing with troubled teens through both the written and spoken word.  He resides in Tennessee with his wife, Tammy.

Still A Man and Other Stories
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To be published in the fall of 2010. 

 

Shadow of Light
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Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Serpent's Tail; First Edition. pb original 1 in number line edition (June 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1852424923
ISBN-13: 978-1852424923
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches

“[An] impassioned first novel...there is no doubt that he is a talented writer.”  —Sunday Telegraph
Product Description

“Like the work of Richard Wright, Shadow of Light is in the tradition of black novels that become unforgettable.” —Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

Black cop. White town. Deep South.

The festering racial tensions in a Tennessee backwater town come to a boil after a black grandmother is raped and shot by a gang of white teenagers. Only one man has the capacity to keep a lid on the mounting violence and that’s the town’s senior black cop, Walter Robinson.  A two-fisted portrayal of the South today—riven by poverty, drugs, and racism, but still struggling toward a better future.  James E. Cherry is a new African American voice. Shadow of Light is his first novel.

 

Honoring the Ancestors
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Nominated for a 2009 NAACP Image Award. 

Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: Third World Press (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883782936
ISBN-13: 978-0883782934
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches

The frustration, anger, and restlessness caused by African American oppression are exorcised in this moving collection of poetry. Speaking initially from the perspective of black struggle, these works evolve to invoke the common denominator of all humanity. A familiar voice laments the feelings of a shared past, including tributes to Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Muhammad Ali, as well as non-African American icons such as Che Guevara, ultimately offering a more thoughtful and transcendental vision of human suffering and injustice.

 

Bending the Blues

A chapbook from H&H Press (2003)

Music serves as inspiration for much of the poetry in this first chapbook by James Cherry, a sensitive young man who reflects upon events from childhood, family, and day-to-day living.

 

 

 

 

 

Related Links

For more details about the author visit:  http://www.jamesEcherry.com