Troy

Also, on Monday May 4th, we are interviewing Anika Noni Rose who stars in this film. If you have any questions for her please post them in a reply below. In Theaters: May 16, 2014 (Limited Release) R, 1 hr. 53 min., Drama, Directed By: Biyi Bandele, Written By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Staring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, John Boyega About the Film Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) are glamorous twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Upon returning to a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria after their expensive English education, the two women make very different choices. Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover, the "revolutionary professor" Odenigbo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his devoted houseboy Ugwu (John Boyega) in the dusty university town of Nsukka; Kainene turns out to be a fiercely successful businesswoman when she takes over the family interests, and surprises even herself when she falls in love with Richard (Joseph Mawle), an English writer. Preoccupied by their romantic entanglements, and a betrayal between the sisters, the events of their life seem to loom larger than politics. However, they become caught up in the events of the Nigerian civil war, in which the lgbo people fought an impassioned struggle to establish Biafra as an independent republic, ending in chilling violence which shocked the entire world. About the Book A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as 'the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,' Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed. With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor's beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna's twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another. Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race'and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, 22 April 2014 Fifteenth Caine Prize shortlist Announced The shortlist for the 2014 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced today (Tuesday 22 April) by Nobel Prize winner and Patron of the Caine Prize Professor Wole Soyinka, as part of the opening ceremonies for the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 celebration in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. To commemorate fifteen years of the Caine Prize this year, £500 will be awarded to each shortlisted writer. The Chair of judges, award-winning author Jackie Kay MBE described the shortlist as, “Compelling, lyrical, thought-provoking and engaging. From a daughter's unusual way of grieving for her father, to a memorable swim with a grandmother, a young boy's fascination with a gorilla's conversation, a dramatic faux family meeting, to a woman who is forced to sell her eggs, the subjects are as diverse as they are entertaining.” She added, “The standard of entries was exceptionally high so much so that it was actually very difficult for the judges to whittle it down to a shortlist of only five stories. We were heartened by how many entrants were drawn to explorations of a gay narrative. What a golden age for the African short story, and how exciting to see real originality - with so many writers bringing something different to the form." The winner of the £10,000 prize is to be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 14 July. The 2014 shortlist comprises: Diane Awerbuck (South Africa) "Phosphorescence" in Cabin Fever (Umuzi, Cape Town. 2011) Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia) "Chicken" in Feast, Famine and Potluck (Short Story Day Africa, South Africa. 2013) Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe) "The Intervention" in Open Road Review, issue 7, New Delhi. 2013 Billy Kahora (Kenya) "The Gorilla's Apprentice" in Granta (London. 2010) Okwiri Oduor (Kenya) "My Father's Head" in Feast, Famine and Potluck (Short Story Day Africa, South Africa. 2013) As always the stories will be available to read online on our website www.caineprize.com. For the first time an audio version of Tendai Huchu’s story is also available. The book of the 2014 prize will be published with the this year’s workshop stories in our forthcoming anthology which will be launched at the award dinner in July 2014 and published by New Internationalist (978-1-78026-174-4 print; 978-1-78026-175-1 ebook) and seven co-publishers in Africa. Alongside Jackie on the panel of judges this year are the distinguished novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo, Zimbabwean journalist Percy Zvomuya, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgetown Dr Nicole Rizzuto and the winner of the Caine Prize in 2001 Helon Habila. Once again, the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity of taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. The award will cover all travel and living expenses. The winner will also be invited to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September 2014, the Storymoja Hay Festival in Nairobi and the Ake Festival in Nigeria. Last year the Caine Prize was won by Nigerian writer Tope Folarin. He has subsequently signed up with the Lippincott Massie McQuilkin literary agency and is working on his first novel The Proximity of Distance. Dates for the Diary This year the shortlisted writers will be reading from their work at the Royal Over-Seas League on Thursday, 10 July at 7pm and at the Southbank Centre, on Sunday, 13 July at 5pm. On Friday, 11 July and Saturday, 12 July the shortlisted writers will also take part in the Africa Writes Festival at The British Library, organised by ASAUK and the Royal African Society. Notes to Editors The Caine Prize, awarded annually for African creative writing, is named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker plc and Chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for nearly 25 years. The Prize is awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English (indicative length 3,000 to 10,000 words). An “African writer” is normally taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, or who is a national of an African country, or who has a parent who is African by birth or nationality. The African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer and J M Coetzee, are Patrons of The Caine Prize. Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne is President of the Council, Ben Okri OBE is Vice President, Jonathan Taylor CBE is the Chairman and Ellah Wakatama Allfrey OBE is the Deputy Chairperson. The five shortlisted stories, alongside stories written at the Caine Prize workshops are published annually by New Internationalist (UK), Jacana Media (South Africa), Cassava Republic (Nigeria), Kwani? (Kenya), Sub-Saharan Publishers (Ghana), FEMRITE (Uganda), Bookworld Publishers (Zambia) and ‘amaBooks (Zimbabwe). Anthologies are available from the publishers or from the Africa Book Centre, African Books Collective or Amazon. The New Internationalist edition of ‘A Memory This Size and other stories’ was published on 1 July 2013. ebook) Previous winners are Sudan’s Leila Aboulela (2000), Nigerian Helon Habila (2001), Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Kenyan Yvonne Owuor (2003), Zimbabwean Brian Chikwava (2004), Nigerian Segun Afolabi (2005), South African Mary Watson (2006), Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007), South African Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008), Nigerian EC Osondu (2009), Sierra Leonean Olufemi Terry (2010), Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo (2011), Nigerian Rotimi Babatunde (2012) and Nigerian Tope Folarin (2013). The Caine Prize is principally supported by The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Miles Morland, the Booker Prize Foundation, Sigrid Rausing & Eric Abraham, Weatherly International plc, China Africa Resources, Exotix and CSL Stockbrokers. Other funders include the DOEN Foundation, The Beit Trust, British Council, The Lennox and Wyfold Foundation, the Royal Over-Seas League and Kenya Airways. World Book Capital is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programs to promote books and reading and the dedication of all players in the book industry. The designation runs from UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day (April 23) of one year until April 22 of the following year. Port Harcourt, Nigeria holds the World Book Capital title for 2014 http://www.portharcourtworldbookcapital.org/ For further information please contact: Jenny Casswell Raitt Orr & Associates Tel: +44(0)207 250 8296/ Mob: +44(0)7796 131447 jenny@raittorr.co.uk Follow us on Twitter (@CainePrize), Facebook and www.caineprize.com Read our blog http://caineprize.blogspot.co.uk/

Cynique of course we can boycott. The Black players, 80+ of the freaking players can simply stop playing. In fact they could form their own league. I'm not talking about a Black only league, but one in which the people who provide the value share in most of the wealth. Now that will NEVER happen. And please don't get me started on the NAACP -- my God they were in the process of giving the known racist a 2nd life time achievement award!? There was NO pretense of giving a crap about Black folks. But why should I be surprised given our collective behavior.

Power List of Best-Selling African-American Books Releases Spring 2014 List The Power List, the quarterly compilation of best-selling books written or read by African Americans, released its Spring 2014 list today. The Power List is a joint project of AALBC.com, Cushcity.com and Mosaicbooks.com, three Web sites which have promoted African-American literature for more than a decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CdZJVXtdVQ

After reading a bit about the real life character for the on the Hollywood film Belle. The truly bizarre behavior of Americans in power past and present never ceases to amaze me.

You don't become wealthy in this nation being righteous. The ball players ain't about to quit, any more than a house negro would work in the field. The general population does not care, really. They will keep shelling out mega bucks buying high priced tickets and merchandise further enriching this guy even at the expense out own well being.

The 2014 NAACP Image Award Winners and Nominees for Literature were perhaps the best crop of books ever nominated. For years we used to complain about the poor quality of the nominees for these awards. Now that the book are good there is no one around to talk about how this list has imporved :-)

This video shows highlights of the African American Pavilion at Book Expo America from 2006. BEA is the country's largest trade show for the publishing industry. The African American Pavilion is no longer part of Book Expo. I exhibited in the Pavilion in 2006. Heather Covington wrote quite a bit about the Pavilion that year. You will see coverage of Black Issue Book Review Magazine, where Ken Smikle, then the new owner, announced a merger with Target Market News. Black Issues Book Review stopped publishing the following year. Faye Childs, CEO of BlackBoard Multi Media Entertainment, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the African American Pavilion. In 1991, Childs created a list of top best selling books by African American authors called the Blackboard Bestsellers. This is the list that Essence picked up, then discontinued. Our, one-year-old Power List is an effort to keep a national bestsellers list going. Childs also announced the publication of the BlackBoard National Provider (The BNP), the first African American daily newspaper. I have no clue if any issues were ever published beyond what was show that day. Wendy Williams blew up. Terrie Williams expanded on her efforts to raise awareness of mental illness in the Black community. Cheryl and Wade Hudson continue to promote children's literature and literacy, at this point, for over 25 years. The Hudsons really deserve more recognition for their work, particularly since the number of children's books by and about people of color, published in the U.S., has been on the decline for the last few years. George Fraser continues to fight for Black empowerment. Relentless Aaron, was busy setting the standard for slinging books back then. I actually owe the Brother a call. Max Rodriguez still runs the Harlem Book Fair, 2014 marking its 16th year. Like everything else, it has changed too. I was still growing AALBC.com back in 2006 it was several years before the site's peak (in terms of traffic). I still had a full time job back then--please don't ask me how I did it. I think I just slept a lot less. I also had a lot more money back then too, which of course help. It was in many ways an easier and more exciting time for the Black book world. A lot has changed since those 8 years. Today I more time trying to figure out how to get out from under using social media and exploit our own resources, than I do creating content. I won't bore you with another Google/Facebook rant While today's environment is much more challenging, there are many more potential and new opportunities. Troy Johnson (Founder, AALBC.com), Ken Smikle (Publisher, BIBR), William E. Cox (Founder and Publisher Emeritus, BIBR), Angela P. Dodson (Executive Editor, BIBR), Tony Rose (CEO, Amber Books), Wade Hudson (President Just Us Books), Clarence V. Reynolds (Managing Editor, BIBR) The following was written by Tony Rose co-founder of The African American Pavilion at BookExpo in March of 2014: THE ORIGINAL MISSION STATEMENT AND HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PAVILION AT BOOKEXPO AMERICA AND AMBER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.'S AFRICAN AMERICAN PAVILION AT BEA. - 2004-2013 The African American Pavilion at BookExpo America was founded in 2004 by Tony Rose, Publisher/CEO, Amber Communications Group, Inc.; Niani Colom, Associate Publisher, Genesis Press; and Adrienne Ingrum, Associate Publisher of Black Issues Book Review. THE MISSION STATEMENT: African American Publishers and Writers bring African American stories to our community and the world. despite obstacles and resistance, our publishing partnerships with authors and book retailers set African American Culture at the forefront of the book publishing industry. The exhibit spaces will showcase African American books, authors, products, and publishers. There will be great opportunities to learn, share, educate, sell and network making African American books a vital, visable, part of the over 115 + years of the BookExpo America/American Booksellers Association. BEA is a showcase for the book publishing industry. As one of the largest book trade exhibits in the world, BEA provides Independent African American book publishers, self-publishers, authors, black interest imprints at major publishing houses, distributors, literary agents, publicists, librarians and bookstore owners with exposure to more then tens of thousands of book buyers and book sellers from across the globe. Prior to the existence of the African American Pavilion at BookExpo America, almost every genre of books, except those by African Americans had provided a unified exhibit presence at the BEA, we decided to fill that void. The first ever African American Pavilion at BookExpo America, began in 2004 as a coordinated effort by Amber Communications Group, Inc., Genesis Press and Black Issues Book Review. The mission was to make the leading industry event for book publishers a more cost effective and efficient way to present and sell African American titles. The pavilion has had many success stories provided through licensing, sales, distribution and business opportunities. A three booth pavilion quickly became a consorted effort of hundreds of exhibitors, over the years, to showcase the African American culture of book publishing. Our companies are independently owned and operated. We generate millions of dollars in book sales and fuel one of the fastest growing categories in the book publishing world The African American Pavilion stands for more than just a united face of exhibitors, it is the voice and power of African American Book Publishing.

Sankofa was a top selling DVD for 2013 I'm sorry I missed this post. I was previously unfamiliar with Halie Gerima's work. Here is interviewed by UCLA Film & Television Archive Director Jan-Christopher Horak after a screening of his film TEZA (2008).

Yes this should help reduce the number of folks locked up and the length of their sentences. Black folks will be happy until crimes, fueled by illegal drug use and activity, begin to increase in our neighborhoods again.

Richard I don't know what the title should be, I just know the trailer turned me off from having any interest in seeing the film. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Drugs are increasingly becoming a scourge on upper-middle class white neighborhoods. Of course these children will not be sent to jail at the same rates Black children are. Indeed, much of the conversation now has now switched to treatment and prevention and an elimination of the harsh minimum sentencing lawws now that white kids are doing drugs like Heroine and Crystal Meth at greater rates than Black kids,

Here is a 2005 article from Black Enterprise about Hue-man Bookstore. Hue-Man came to life in August 2002, when Rita Ewing, 39, Celeste Johnson, 35, and Clara Villarosa decided to open a bookstore dedicated to African American authors. Ewing, ex-wife of former New York Knick Patrick Ewing, established a partnership with Johnson, wife of NBA star Larry Johnson. Armed with an M.B.A. and 22 years of experience running a computer firm, Allen became a full partner in 2004 and today handles Hue-Man’s day-to-day operations. In 2004, the company brought in $1.2 million in revenues, and expects the same amount for 2005. Little did they know at the time that they were building what would become one of the largest African American bookstores in the country, in one of the largest African American communities nationwide. At the grand opening on Aug. 1, 2002, rapper Jay-Z, singer Stevie Wonder, and actor Wesley Snipes attended, with poet Maya Angelou providing a special dedication. Interestingly, I was not invited to attend the opening celebration. I lived walking distance from the store, and was prominent in the Black book community. Still, I was excited about the opening. I planned to do a lot of collaborating with store. That collaboration never happened. It was a lost opportunity not just for the store but for the Harlem community. Others I knew simply ignored the store, feeling, understandably, slighted. The store's opening attended by celebrities to the exclusion of many local community book people rubbed me the wrong way, and was reflective of the attitude of the store and explains why so many felt as Nah'Sun described, ""

I stumbled across this conversation looking for something else. I have a long conversation with Clara Vilarosa recently (in 2014). The Hue-man story would make a fascinating documentary. The rise and fall of Hue-man is almost a perfect mirror of Black folks relationship with books and publishing. Ultimately Clara left Hue-man and Marva Allen took over Hue-man Bookstore's operations. Here is her side of the Hue-man bookstore, in Harlem story. Our most profound problem in publishing is lack of ownership. We own almost nothing -- not even the stores to sell our own books!

Chris one correction to your point about who profits from uploading a musician's music to Google's YouTube: Sure the person who uploads the video makes money but Google makes the lion's share from that video upload, as well as the millions of others that were uploaded in the same fashion. THAT is why Google facilitates--no encourages the pirating. But people don't care as long as they are getting the free music. No one thinks it through. Gregory Porter remains obscure and P Diddy is almost a billionaire. Yeah I was like, "Damn! What else is Chris doing and why is he being so low key about it?" Of course I was into the lyrics. Again it was the question the initiated my post. Was that Chris Brown in the video? I see there are other artists creating these lyrics like this but for a multitude of reasons they never reach a large audience. I guess your story is just one many examples Chris. Cynique, I asked OhSoCoy to comment here and to ask her pals to do the same. She eagerly agreed. I can see now that OhSoCoy even created an account. But obviously she has not commented. I don't know why. As a side bar, I'm growing tired of asking people to comment here. It is another one of those chores that contributes to making running this site less fun. The crazy thing is that commenting here was one way authors made a name for themselves -- this discussion board is still read by influential people. People like Kola Boof recognized and exploited this fact to the max. Other authors benefited without knowing. For example, during the national Black Writers Conference a Brother who has been industry for decades expressed concern about our very own CDBurns opening a bookstore. The person never commented here but the comment made was indeed noticed by a prominent figure in the industry. I still plan to mention this conversation in the eNewsletter I just don't know the angle yet. Of course the conversation would have been more interesting if one or more of the young artists in the video contributed.

Kam just reviewed this film. He gave it 4 stars. I'm sure it is a OK documentary, on some level, for most folks. But the trailer simply made me nauseous. In the trailer a young white woman, one of the subjects of the film, just got on my nerves. I'm sure I will not watch the film.

BookTV aired all of the panels from the National Black Writers Conference. You may find the videos here: http://aalbc.it/booktvnbwc

Another interesting book on Race: The Myth of Race/The Reality of Racism: Critical Essays by Mahmoud El-Kati

Another interesting book on Race: The Myth of Race/The Reality of Racism: Critical Essays by Mahmoud El-Kati

Read this article for some background “Come hell or high water, Tribes will exist.” – Steve Cannon The Friends of Steve Cannon: A Evening of Poetry and Jazz In Celebration of A Gathering of the Tribes & An Incredible Man A National Poetry / Jazz Appreciation Month Benefit for A Gathering of the Tribes Hosted by Mariposa, Frank Perez & Sheila Maldonado Featuring: Jesus-Papoleto Melendez, Melanie M. Goodreaux-Fielder,Stephanie Agosto, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Kolm, Danny Shot, Tsaurah Litzky, Bonafide Rojas, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Patricia Spears Jones, Paul Beatty, Eve Packer, David Henderson,Bob Holman, Sophie Malleret, Bonny Finberg, Howard Pflanzer, John Farris, Willie Perdomo, Anyssa Kim, Jill Rapaport, Thaddeus Rutkowski and others Wed, April 23, 2014 @ The Nuyorican Poets Cafe 236 E. 3rd St. (Pedro Pietri Way) Bet Aves. B & C http://www.nuyorican.org/ Doors open 5:30pm Show 6pm – 9pm ADMISSION: $20 at the door / $15 in Advance, Students & Seniors $10

Cynique, in reaction to your interest in hearing what the younger generation thinks I've asked OhSoCoy to join the conversation and invite some of the other poets in the video to do so as well I agree it would be interesting to read their perspective as well. Obviously Chris I agree with your assessment on the type of conversations that happen on Facebook. I would also add the issue of who owns the platforms where our conversations take place. It makes a difference on many levels. I just purchased Robert Glasper's Black Radio Again I could have downloaded the album from a bunch of sources. I don't really understand how Google (youtube) can get away with posting the entire album, making it freely available to anyone who wants it. Of course, they are not alone in pirating music, but it seems to me a major corporation would ensure they don't do this. I guess Google figures it is better to make money off the music (But if I have to look at the guy twirling that pizza again I'm gonna kill someone). Perhaps Blue Note Records (Glasper's record company) don't mind their music being freely available. Free publicity, sort of like the radio. When I was a kid I used to wait for a song to be played on the radio so that I could record it on my tape recorder. I guess technology just make it easier to do the same thing today. It would be interesting to see how folks like Glasper make money. I purchased the album (the music files) from iTunes for $5.99. In 2014 you almost feel like a sucker since, seemingly, most people just download the music for free.

@Cave (love the name btw). I completely agree with your point: "As far as Jazz, is less of a marginalization as it is access , distribution channels, education, and of course cultural changes" But man your description of the lack of access is the very definition of marginalization. For example, I simply was not exposed to jazz until I was in college. No one listened to it at home, none of my peers listened to it or talked about it, I did not hear it on the radio (did I say I grew up in Harlem?). I was still discovering the music well into my 40's. I clearly remember the first time I heard Nina Simone's I was at a Jazz Festival in Amsterdam and they were playing Feeling Good I was like wow-- who is that?! later after discovering I Put a Spell on You, MIssissippi Goddamn, etc , etc. I was just floored I could live a lifetime in the U.S. and not be exposed to Nina Simone. It sound strange to say this but Jazz in the U.S.is marginalized as well as poetry. Literacy is being marginalized right before my eyes. Would anyone here classify the video that kicked off this conversation as hip-hop?

Highlights from the As The Pages Turn Book Club's Literary Luncheon Fundraiser held Saturday June 28, 2014, at the Chateau of Spain Restaurant, in Newark NJ. As The Pages Turn Book Club of Newark Literary Luncheon Fundraiser Saturday June 28, 2014, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Donation $30 Chateau of Spain Restaurant 11 Franklin Street Newark, NJ 07102 Confirmed Authors include: 2014 NAACP Image Award Winning Author Pamela Samuels Young (Keynote), RM Johnson, Eva Tremains, Sadeqa Johnson, William Frederick Cooper, Pat G'Orge-Walker & Al Saadiq Banks Plus AALBC.com's Founder, Troy Johnson, will be there too! A day filled with great authors, food, fun, raffles & vendors Contact Kelly 973-985-6845 or Tahitia 862-371-7779 for tickets or email the club at asthepagesturnbookclub@comcast.net www.asthepagesturnbookclub.com Discover more great events in our Events Section