RECENT AALBC.COM BOOK REVIEWS
If you looking for a good book or one to avoid, check out AALBC.com's book reviews

AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW

AALBC.com RECOMMENDS

The Oxford Companion to African American Literature 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195065107/aalbccom-20

The Oxford Companion to African American Literature provides the first comprehensive one-volume reference work devoted to this rich tradition, surveying the length and breadth of black literary history, focusing in particular on the lives and careers of more than 400 writers. Here, too, are general articles on the traditional literary genres, such as poetry, fiction, and drama; on genres of special import in African American letters, such as autobiography, slave narratives, Sunday school literature, and oratory; and on a wide spectrum of related topics, including journalism, the black periodical press, major libraries and research centers, religion, literary societies, women's clubs, and various publishing enterprises. Finally, the five-part, fifteen-page essay, Literary History, captures the full sweep of African American writing in the United States, from the colonial and early national eras right up to the present day. The Companion also features a comprehensive subject index; extensive cross-referencing; and bibliographies after almost every article.

Read Kalamu ya Salaam's insightful and informative article on the Black Arts Movement, contributed by Kalamu ya Salaam, which was originally published in The Oxford Companion to African American Literature 
http://aalbc.com/authors/blackartsmovement.htm

Cave Canem
http://www.cavecanempoets.org/

Cave Canem is committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African American poetry.

Beginning as an all-volunteer effort in 1996, Cave Canem has moved swiftly to become a non-profit organization with a fulltime director and an active Board, funded through individual donations and foundation and government grants. Our program has expanded from a summer retreat to include regional workshops, a first book prize, annual anthologies, and readings and events in major cities around the United States. We are a national community of emerging and established poets, a family of black writers who create, publish, perform, teach, and study poetry, and support each others’ work.

Black Issues Book Review
http://www.bibookreview.com

Black Issues Book Review showcases the burgeoning world of African American Literature. Each thought provoking, entertaining issue expresses the joy of reading with a unique blend of provocative reviews, author interviews, and insightful commentary.  Subscribe here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000060MHY/aalbccom-20

LITERARY EVENTS CALENDAR
http://www.aalbc.com/events/

Our events calendar allows visitors to learn about up coming African American literary events. Visitors may even post their own events and include a link back to their web site. If you don't have a web site AALBC.com can build one for you; simply fill out the form on our web site at http://www.aalbc.com/events/

Here are just a couple of author packed events coming up in the next few weeks:

TWO NEW ARTICLES ABOUT WRITING BY LEAH MULLINS

Need Inspiration to Write? Begin Within
http://www.aalbc.com/writers/needinspiration.htm

"I think I write fiction for the same reason I am drawn to first-person narratives and memoirs like bell hooks Wounds of Passion and asha bandele's Prisoner's Wife. I read these works, to separate from myself, to become the narrator just for a moment. When I close the book, I return from the journey, fuller and more complete."

My Sacred Texts
http://www.aalbc.com/writers/mysacredtexts.htm

"Journaling is the vehicle I use to document my healing process. This process involves spirituality, health, knowledge of history and other activities. My journal (or diary) is where I record my setbacks, growth, epiphanies, dreams and fears. Not only do I consider books like Sacred Women, and Tradition within a Tradition as revered texts, I also hold in the highest regard the chronicles I create -- my pretty, hard-covered notebooks that I fill in, little by little, day by day."

THE COFFEE WILL MAKE YOU BLACK ON-LINE READING GROUP 
http://thumperscorner.com/Reading_List.htm

October 2003 Selection

Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison

The Coffee Will Make You Black reading group is currently reading Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison

Our chat session is scheduled for Sunday, October 12th, 2003 at 6:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time . If you have already read Shadow and Act, and would like to participate in our on-line chat session; please join us in our chat room http://www.thumperscorner.com/chat/

Visit http://thumperscorner.com/Reading_List.htm to view the rest of The Coffee Will Make You Black on-line reading group's reading list for 2003

AALBC.com DISCUSSION BOARDS
http://www.thumperscorner.com/cgi/discus/discus.cgi

For live discussions visit AALBC.com's discussion boards.  You'll find Thumper's Corner where you may exchange views with authors, avid readers on anything related to African-American literature and publishing.  There is the an increasingly popular discussion board on Culture, Race and Economy where you'll find controversial, informative and often humorous, exchanges on the subject.  The Poetree discussion board allows visitors to share and solicit feedback on poems and exchange information related to poetry.

Peace, 
Troy Johnson, 
Founder AALBC.com