An Imprint of BlackWords
"I have been in publishing since I was 6 years old. You see, my father was an educational book publisher, and my sisters and I were his staff. We were Direct Mail coordinators (Stuffing Envelopes/Licking Stamps) in elementary school; Customer Service and Shipping Clerks (Answering telephones/Taping Boxes) in junior high; Sales & Marketing Managers (Vending at every cultural event in U.S and Abroad) in high school. So you can imagine the shock on his face when, after 14 years of training and preparation in educational publishing, I graduated from college with an English degree and one mission: To Publish Poetry."
Since it's inception in 1995, BlackWords, Inc. has published nine works of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. We kick off this year with the publication of "One Dead Preacher," a page-turning mystery novel by Indiana Writer-TONY LINDSAY (March 2000). Over the past five years, we have overcome many obstacles, made a few mistakes (and learned from them), enjoyed numerous successes and had a splendid time through all of it. As we enter the new millenium, we continue our plan to become the "Motown" of Black Poetry and Literature. Thank you for supporting our writers (Stacey Lyn Evans, Tonya Matthews, Tony Lindsay, Angela Boykin and Pamela Brown) and may this year be full of love and literature.
BlackWords Executive Staff
Publisher,
Kwame Alexander
Senior Publishing Consultant: Stephanie Stanley Alexander
Freelance Editorial Consultants (Fiction): Pamela R. Brown and Michon Lartique
Editorial Assistant/Intern: Emelda Leocadio
Design Consultant: Kyle Design Group, Inc.
Company Profile
BlackWords, Inc. is a Washington, DC Metropolitan-based Independent Publisher and Producer of fine Black Literature. Founded by Kwame Alexander, the primary mission of the house is to provide publishing and promotion opportunities for a new generation of Talented Black Literary Artists.
The BlackWords Publishing Program is designed to create great authors by producing quality, original and innovative books. Our best-selling titles have included 360°: A Revolution of Black Poets, and Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur. Currently, we are not accepting poetry manuscript submissions, however we are accepting submissions for a forthcoming poetry anthology. Guidelines for fiction and non-fiction submissions will be posted in late February 1999. Look for our next title "One Dead Preacher," a mystery by TONY LINDSAY, this Spring.
We bring the best in Theatre and Poetry-related events to Coffeehouses, Theaters, Universities and other venues. BlackWords produces several annual arts events, including 360° : A Revolution of Black Poets, and We Real Cool: A Celebration of Black Literature & Performance, which has featured Haki R. Madhubuti, Stacey Lyn Evans, Maestro Kenny Muhammad and Acoustic Jazz Duo, HUE. We have produced Theatre in the U.S. and England, with our most recent, Standing Room Only Premiere of Semple-Minded, a play by Kwame Alexander based on the "Jesse B. Semple" stories of Langston Hughes, which took place at Washington, DC’s Historic National Theatre. The BlackWords poetry events support our Poetry Publishing Program. Regular Poetry events include Slammin: a BlackWords Poetry Slam, and Jazz Poetry Kafe, which has featured such notables as VINX, wadud, Plunky & Oneness, and Jessica Care Moore. Join us February 9-20 for "The Seventh Son," a play about the life and death of Tupac Shakur, at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre.
Our Books are available at your local bookseller (if they are out of stock, ask your bookseller to order it) or online (via aalbc.com, barnesandnoble.com, melanet.com), or directly from the Publisher.
Check out our Top 100 Publisher Imprints and our list of Black-owned Publishers.
