Lee Daniels On “The Daily Show” With John Stewart
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Lee Daniels www.thedailyshow.com
via shadowandact.com
Lucille Clifton had been ill for some time.
Click to view a larger pictureClifton, honored poet from Buffalo, dies
NEWS STAFF REPORTERLucille Clifton, born and raised in the Buffalo area before going on to achieve some of the literary world's highest honors as a major American poet, died this morning at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore at age 73, her sister told The Buffalo News.
Clifton had been ill for some time with some type of infection, and had undergone surgery to remove her colon Friday, but her exact cause of death is still uncertain, Clifton's sister, Elaine Philip said today.
"We really don't know," Philip said, "she had an infection throughout her body, and we don't know yet where it was coming from."
Clifton, who lived in Columbia, Md., and was the former poet laureate of the state, was a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee.
She won the National Book Award in 2001 for "Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000," and in 2007, she became the first African-American woman to be awarded one of the literary world's highest honors — the Ruth Lilly Prize for lifetime achievement by the Poetry Foundation."
"She is, in my opinion, the greatest poet to have been born and raised in Buffalo in the 20th Century," said R.D. Pohl, longtime literary contributor to The Buffalo News.
"I think so, too," Philip said, "not just because she was my sister. She was so sensitive. Everything touched her. Everyone mattered to her. She was such a loving person."
The former Lucille Sayles was born into a working-class family in Depew on June 27, 1936.
She moved to Buffalo with her family at an early age, and was raised on Purdy Street. She graduated from Fosdick-Masten High School and was awarded a scholarship to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C., before she transferred to Fredonia State College, where she graduated.
Clifton left Buffalo in the late 1960s, after she met and married Fred Clifton, a philosophy professor at the University at Buffalo.
The couple moved to Baltimore and had six children. Clifton moved to California for a short time, after her husband died in 1984, but returned to Maryland several years later and has been there ever since.
In 2004, she returned to Buffalo to receive an Outstanding Individual Artist award from the Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County and the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.
At that time, Clifton had published 11 poetry collections, autobiographical prose and 20 children's books. Her poems have appeared in more than 100 anthologies. In 1987, she became the only author to have had two books nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in the same year and was a finalist for the prestigious award.
Besides her sister, Clifton is survived by three daughters, Sidney, Gillian and Alexia; and a son, Graham.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
via buffalonews.com
ANNOUNCING
THE
Gemini Magazine
SHORT STORY
CONTEST!
GRAND PRIZE: $1,0002nd PLACE: $100
HONORABLE MENTION (3)
ENTRY FEE: $4
DEADLINE: March 31, 2010All Five Finalists Will Be Published in
The June 2010 Issue of GeminiNo restrictions on content, style, genre or length. Simply—
send your best unpublished work by email or snail mail. We
love a good story and truly look forward to reading yours!Flashes, novel excerpts, experimental
all types of short
fiction are welcome.Both new and established writers welcome. Two of the six
finalists in our recent Flash Fiction Contest were previously
unpublished. (see results below)TO ENTER:1. Click "Donate" and pay the $4 entry fee.2. Paste previously unpublished story into body of email and
send to:contest@gemini-magazine.comNOattachments. Do not include bio—just your story and
contact info. Enter as many stories as you like; $4 fee for
each individual story.2 stories = $8
3 stories = $12
4 stories = $16
10 stories = $40OR:1. Mail entry with $4 check or money order, payable to
Gemini Magazine, to:Contest, Gemini Magazine, P.O. Box 1485, Onset, MA 02558
(include $4 for each additional entry)
$2000 Awaits Winners of Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the 2010 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The competition has a twenty-nine-year history of literary excellence, and its organizers are dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talent of emerging writers of short fiction whose voices have yet to be heard.
Lorian Hemingway, granddaughter of Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway, is the author of three critically acclaimed books:Walking into the River, Walk on Water, and A World Turned Over.
Ms. Hemingway is the competition’s final judge.
Prizes and Publication:
The first-place winner will receive $1,000. The second and third-place winners will receive $500 each. Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise.
The Saturday Evening Post To Publish First-Place Winner:
The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition is pleased to announce that each year -- beginning with our 2009 competition -- The Saturday Evening Post will publish our first-place winner in its pages. And occasionally, the Post may also choose to publish our runners-up, either in its pages or on its website.The Post will pay a fee to winners upon publication of his or her story, in addition to the $1,000 first-place prize given by the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The Post’s payment will be in keeping with the magazine’s general rate structure for fiction at the time of publication. Entrants whose stories are published will allow the Post first serial rights, nonexclusive electronic (including online) rights, and nonexclusive anthology rights. This is a standard agreement for magazine publication.
For many years it has been our dream to be able to offer an assured publication for our first-place winner. The Saturday Evening Post, through its generosity and deep appreciation for new voices in literary fiction, has made that dream come true.
Eligibility requirements for our 2010 competition are as follows:
What to submit:
• Stories must be original unpublished fiction, typed and double-spaced, and may not exceed 3,000 words in length. There are no theme restrictions. Copyright remains property of the author, with the exception of the first-place winner, whose work will be published in The Saturday Evening Post.
Who may submit:
• The literary competition is open to all U.S. and international writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more. Writers who have been published online or who have self-published will be considered on an individual basis.
Submission requirements:
• Submissions may be sent via regular mail or submitted online at: shortstorykw@gmail.com. Please visit our online submissions page for complete instructions regarding online submissions. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each must be accompanied by an entry fee and separate cover sheet. We do accept simultaneous submissions; however, the writer must notify us if a story is accepted for publication or wins an award prior to our July announcements. No entry confirmation will be given unless requested. No SASE is required.
• The author’s name should not appear on the story. Our entrants are judged anonymously. Each story must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, complete mailing address, e-mail address, phone number, the title of the piece, and the word count. Manuscripts will not be returned. These requirements apply for online submissions as well.
Deadlines and Entry Fees:
• The entry fee is $12 for each story postmarked by April 1, 2010. The late entry fee is $17 for each story postmarked between April 2 and May 15. We encourage you to enter by April 1 if at all possible, but please know that your story will still be accepted if you meet the later deadline. Our dual deadline must be imposed this year due to information already in print in Writer’s Market, etc. that states May 15 as our final deadline. We apologize for this inconvenience. Beginning with our 2011 competition we will have a single deadline. Entries postmarked after May 15, 2010 will not be accepted. Entries submitted online after May 15 will not be accepted. Writers may submit for the 2011 competition beginning May 16, 2010.
How to pay your entry fee:
• Entry fees submitted by mail with their accompanying stories may be paid -- in U.S. funds -- via a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order. Please make checks payable to LHSSC or The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. Entry fees for online submissions may be paid with PayPal.
Announcement of Winners and Honorable Mentions:
Winners will be announced at the end of July 2010 in Key West, Florida, and posted on our website soon afterward. Only the first-place entrant will be notified personally. All entrants will receive a letter from Lorian Hemingway and a list of winners, either via regular mail or e-mail, by October 1, 2010.
All manuscripts and their accompanying entry fees should be sent to The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041 or submitted online at: shortstorykw@gmail.com
For more information, please explore this website or e-mail: shortstorykw@gmail.com
The Great American Think-Off, 2010 Edition
The 2010 debate question has been released: "Do the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor?" will be debated by four finalists on Saturday, June 12th. We will accept essays of up to 750 words until April 1, 2010 (postmark date).
America’s premier amateur philosophy contest, The Great American Think-Off, releases its 2010 essay and debate question: "Do the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor?" In writing essays on this question, potential debaters may address individuals, groups, or nations as the essayist determines. The Great Debate will be held in New York Mills, Minnesota on Saturday, June 12th, 2010 before a live audience.
Entering the competition is easy. Just submit an essay of 750 words or less by April 1, 2010 (postmark date). You may send your essay in one of three ways: through the mail to Great American Think-Off, New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, P.O. Box 246, New York Mills, MN 56567 or email to nymills@kulcher.org (no attachments) or submit on-line at www.think-off.org. There is no submission fee--submissions are accepted at no charge to writers.
The key to writing a successful essay is to ground your argument in personal experience. The judges are looking for essays that address this central problem of moral philosophy by speaking about personal experience rather than abstract philosophical reasoning. Tell a good story that shows a firm standing on one side or the other of this philosophical question.
A panel of judges will select four finalists to come to New York Mills, Minnesota, for the final debate to be held June 12, 2010. The names of the four finalists, who each receive $500 plus travel, food and lodging expenses, will be announced May 1, 2010. The winner is decided by the audience attending the debate on June 12th and she or he will be named “America’s Greatest Thinker for 2010”.
via think-off.org
"SNEAK PREVIEW" Screening of "RACE."
Hosted by the Political Science Department at Dillard University
Type: Network:
Date: Time: Location: Street: Description
“SNEAK PREVIEW” of “RACE” - a documentary film examining the circumstances surrounding Mayor Nagin’s re-election in 2006, generously hosted by the Dillard Political Science Department.CONTACT: Dr. Gary Clark 504-816-4094
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Baba Ashra Kwesi "AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY: Afrikan Origins of the Bible"
Type: Network:
Date: Time: Location: Description
Mukasa Afrika Presents Ashra Kwesi
AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE AFRIKAN ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE• Do You Really Know the Bible?
• Does the Kemetic Creation Story Predates the Genesis Story of the Bible
• Did Adam and Eve Story Originate from the Afrikan Goddess Concept
• Is there Ancient Kemetic Cosmology in the Bible
• What are the Afrikan Origins of Jewish Folklore
• What is True History of the Exodus Story
• Are there Afrikan Spiritual Laws in Judaism
• And much more…
Ashra Kwesi lectures on African history, civilization,
religion, and culture. He presents lively and dynamic
slide presentation productions and videos based on his
extensive study and travel on the African continent for nearly
three decades. His startling and revealing information on the
African origins of many of the concepts and symbols now utilized
by the western world is due to his focus on the ancient
African Nile Valley. http://www.kemetnu.com/
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Featured Author on Diva's House of All Things Literary
Type: Network:
Date: Time: Location: Description
Join authors Tzynya L. Pinchback & R. Andrew Reeves, Jr. on Diva's House of All Things Literary for the release of the book, Space for Fragile Things on Valentine's Day.We will be reading selections from the book.
Listen online http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diva29
Call in to talk to live (646) 929-1590
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Life force of 'wonderful writer' Dennis Brutus will live on in his poetry
By Maureen IsaacsonAmong the tributes paid to Dennis Brutus at a spirited memorial service last Saturday at Johannesburg's Bassline, Nadine Gordimer reminded the packed auditorium of the relevance of the words of Albert Camus, who said: "The moment I am no more than a writer, I shall cease to write".
"Dennis was a wonderful writer," said Gordimer, "there is no contradiction there."
She said he was a writer who could make sense out of his human life and his time in exile, in prison, and his actions and he used all of this in his work. "If you wish to honour Dennis, please read his poetry, go to the libraries and to the bookshops, and read it."
Oswald Mtshali, the author of the classic poetry anthology, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum, said that Brutus struck him as an absolutely honest man, a man of integrity, an optimist who never lost hope.
"Dennis said if you lost hope, everything was lost," said Mtshali.
He recalled that Brutus was detained and tortured in Marshall Square, where he was kept in the dungeons and in the early morning of the first day of detention he was taken to Kruis Street. Brutus was shot twice in the back when he attempted to escape. Three weeks prior to this, Looksmart Ngundle, an Umkonto we Sizwe commander, "was taken into torture chambers and came out in a body bag".
Brutus wrote a poem about Looksmart's death, said Mtshali. "Brutus was prepared to fight for justice for all of us," he said.
Among the others who remembered Brutus were the Alan Kolski-Horwitz and the Botsotso Jesters, Morakabe Seakhoa of the Write Associates, a variety of poets, and Patrick Bond, who heads the Centre for Civil Society at University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Bond, who wrote an obituary in The Sunday Independent when Brutus died in his sleep, at 85, on December 26, recalled that following being shot in the back, Brutus almost died in front of the Anglo American Corporation headquarters while awaiting an ambulance reserved for blacks.
Brutus, who was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia, in 1924, and moved with his parents to Port Elizabeth, graduated from Fort Hare university with a BA in English, was held in the Johannesburg Fort and later transferred to Robben Island, where he was held in the cell neighbouring Nelson Mandela's.
In 1964-65, Brutus wrote the collections Sirens Knuckles Boots and Letters to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison (1968). Thoughts Abroad (1970), published under the pseudonym John Bruin, was taught in South Africa until it was discovered that Bruin was in fact Brutus.
He moved to the US in 1971, where he served as a professor of literature and African studies at Northwestern (in Chicago) and Pittsburgh universities. Brutus fought for reparations to black South Africans from corporations that benefited from apartheid; an activist until his death.
The experiences of prison, exile, the brutality of apartheid; these were his themes. They are apparent in A Simple Lust (1973) and Stubborn Hope: New Poems and Selections from 'China Poems' and 'Strains' (1978). Salutes and Censures (1984) and Airs and Tributes (1989) dealt again with issues of apartheid and the hell it incurred on black South Africans.
Jethro Ibikunle, writing in Next, the Nigerian journal, describes an event in Benin City, Nigeria, earlier last month organised by Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria in honour of Brutus.
He described Brutus's frantic attempts to escape deportation from the US under the Ronald Reagan administration.
"Had Dennis Brutus lost the right to asylum, his life would have been in serious jeopardy. At one point, his home country's government rated him as one of the 20 most dangerous South African political figures overseas."
For devotees of justice, Brutus has set the bar impossibly high. Ninety unseen poems will be published posthumously by Worcester State University in the US.
Published on the web by Sunday Independent on February 6, 2010.
© Sunday Independent 2010. All rights reserved.
Howls of protest at Dennis Brutus concert
Written by John Chimunhu Monday, 08 February 2010 10:53
HARARE - A memorial concert for the late Zimbabwe-born South African poet, academic and social activist, Dennis Brutus, turned into a howl of protest against President Robert Mugabe's social policies. (Pictured: Dennis Brutus, Zimbabwean-born poet and activist)
The event on January 29 was organised by Zimcodd, Magamba Cultural Activist Network and SAPSN at the Book Cafe included screening of a documentary on Brutus entitled 'I am a rebel', speakers, poets and musicians 'to celebrate the life of a great global social justice activist'. Brutus died on December 26, 2009 in South Africa, marking the end of nearly half a decade of protest against various forms of oppression, from apartheid in South Africa to Mugabe's tyranny in Zimbabwe, among other causes.
One of the speakers at the function, Jonah Gokova, attacked what he called the 'pillars of capitalism', including the World Bank and the IMF, traditional targets of Brutus in his later years.
"These institutions are creating increasing numbers of poor people in the world," said Gokova, who met Brutus at several anti-capitalism protests around the world. "Capitalism is not an option." Added Gokova, "Brutus shared those ideals that one day we would live in a just world in which profit should not determine how we should live."
Readings from Brutus's massive collection of poetry were followed by tributes and a performance by the ever-popular Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka, whose protest song MaStreets got people on their feet. Brutus was born in Harare in 1924 but soon moved to Port Elizabeth with his family. He was shot and jailed by apartheid authorities for his activism, which resulted in South Africa being banned from the Olympics in 1972.
Brutus published more than a dozen volumes of poetry. Among his most evocative works are 'Sirens Knuckles and Boots' and 'Letters to Martha', an epic protest note which was smuggled out of prison disguised as a love letter.
Published: February 13, 2010, 5:11 pm