Zócalo Public Square Book Prize

“Zócalo is the best thing to happen to Los Angeles intellectual life in decades. I can’t imagine a better organization to honor today’s best thinking on the nature of community.”
— Author Greg Critser

The Zócalo Public Square Book Prize is awarded annually to the U.S.-published book that most enhances our understanding of community — the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion — be it locally, regionally, nationally or globally.

Consistent with our organizational mission, as well as with the form and content of our web magazine and events, the Zócalo Public Square Book Prize seeks to honor the best contemporary thinking on the oldest of human dilemmas: how best to live and work together.

Because community is such a vast subject that can be explored in myriad ways, we accept submissions on a broad array of topics and themes and from just as many fields and disciplines.

But like everything else we feature, we are most on the lookout for that rare combination of brilliance and clarity, excellence and accessibility.

Three finalists will be announced in March 2012. The author of the winning book, as determined by a panel of judges, will receive $5,000 and deliver a lecture at the Award Ceremony in April 2012. Peter Lovenheim won the first annual book prize for his book In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time.

We’re also hosting an essay contest for Los Angeles area high school seniors on how to make communities stronger, in hopes of finding fresh ideas from new voices. For more details, see here.

Our judges:

Kimberly Freeman, director of community relations for the Southern California Gas Company
Franklin Gilliam, Jr., dean of UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs
Gregory Rodriguez, founding director of Zócalo Public Square
Thaddeus Russell, professor of history and American studies at Occidental College and author of A Renegade History of the United States
Michele Siqueiros, executive director of the Campaign for College Opportunity
D.J. Waldie, essayist and author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir
Michael Woo, dean of California Poly Pomona’s College of Environmental Design and former Los Angeles city council member

The Zócalo Book Prize is sponsored by the Southern California Gas Company. Additional support provided by the Shepard Broad Foundation.

Future Classics Open Call For Full-length Plays

ABOUT FUTURE CLASSICS:
      The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH)’s Future Classics Program was developed to promote the work of emerging playwrights, whose works are persistently under-represented on American stages. As such, Future Classics is especially interested in works by arts of color, women and other underrepresented artists such as immigrants, ethnic and religious minorities. Future Classics supports works in early development chiefly by providing rehearsals and staged readings with professional actors and directors, which offers playwrights opportunity to develop a play in a workshop setting and a nurturing environment. We are equally committed to engaging and developing a new audience that reflects the Harlem community and that will become invested in theater.

WHAT IS A FUTURE CLASSIC?
      CTH asserts that a "Future Classic" is a play of social significance. It tackles large-scale economic, political or cultural issues. A Future Classic promotes courageous and open-minded examination of controversial and critical topics that are at the heart of society. A Future Classic is an epic play that engages audiences beyond our own individual experiences.

·      Plays may not have been previously produced.
·      Playwrights may submit only one full-length play.
·      Plays must be submitted as a PDF or as a Word document.
·      Playwrights will not receive comments on plays once submitted.
·      Playwrights should also include a brief author's bio and/or resume.
·   Playwrights may also submit a play synopsis (no longer than a page).

 

For additional information on CTH, including a list of previous Future Classics projects, please visit http://www.classicaltheatreofharlem.org/

All submissions must be submitted to Cthfutureclassics@gmail.com by
5:00PM, EST, Wednesday, December 28, 2011.

Watch Trailer for

"RasTa: A Soul's Journey"

A Doc About

The World of Rastafari

 

Video  by Vanessa Martinez | December 9, 2011 

Directed by Stuart Samuels, the feature length documentary RasTa: A Soul's Journey follows Donisha Prendergast, the lovely 25-year old granddaughter of the late reggae icon Bob Marley and his wife Rita Marley, as she meets men and women in different parts of the world who have adopted a Rastafari lifestyle. In the documentary, Predregast explores how the movement evolved in those places and ultimately hopes to find her purpose in life as she honors her grandparents' legacy.

The documentary, produced by Patricia Scarlett and Marilyn Gray, features interviews with Bob Marley's youngest son Damian Marley, wife Rita Marley, British/Jamaican writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, reggae artist and entrepreneur Ras Levi-Roots, and Dr Jake Homiak, curator of the exhibit Discovering Rastafari at the National Museum of Natural History. The documentary examines the ways that Rastafari has evolved and manifested itself globally beyond the island of Jamaica, and attempts to dispel any negative misconceptions about Rastafarians.

Here's full synopsis:

A Soul's Journey tells the story of the journey of Rita and Bob Marley's granddaughter, Donisha Prendergast, to eight (8) countries around the world to explore the roots and evolution of Rastafari. Her journey takes her to places where her grandfather's captivating performances and his message are still fondly remembered. The documentary boasts an uplifting and inspiring reggae soundtrack that features established as well as emerging contemporary, reggae stars such as Humble, Matisyahu and Damian Marley. This exciting mix of travel, music and culture packs a powerful punch that will appeal to audiences around the world.

RasTa made its world premiere at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal back in October 18th & 20th, and it last screened at the Whistler Film Festival last weekend, where it was the runner-up for the audience award.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Visiting ETHIOPIA

with ROHAN MARLEY

{Live Footage}▴▴

 

Travel through Ethiopia with Rohan Marley in the first publication by Michel Temteme.

 

Concept by Underdog the DJ

Nuruddin Farah

“The Somali Neurosis”

December 12, 2011 By Sean Jacobs 9 Comments

14-minute clip from a recent TV profile by Norwegian television of a visit by Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah to that country. I never imagined book TV could look this good and informative.

Tradition, immigration, colonialism, exile, etcetera, gets an airing. We especially love how Farah turns the Norwegian interviewer’s questions about war, corruption and sadness to the personal or familial.

The clip also includes an interview with Brit-Somali novelist Nadifa Mohamed.

 Here’s a link to a second part on Youtube (there’s some repetition though).

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Stephen Colbert

Talks Science with

Astrophysicist

Neil deGrasse Tyson

in Astronomy, Comedy, Physics, Video - Science | December 3rd, 2011 1 Comment

With a fast-moving mixture of comedy and seriousness, an interview on The Colbert Report is something of an improvisational flying trapeze act. “Stephen Colbert is an amazingly good interviewer,” writes physicist Sean Carroll, “managing to mix topical jokes and his usual schtick with some really good questions, and more than a bit of real background knowledge.”

Beneath the humor there is a sense that Colbert understands and respects science. The sad thing, writes Carroll, “is that more people are exposed to real scientists doing cutting-edge research by watching Comedy Central than by watching, shall we say, certain channels you might have thought more appropriate venues for such conversations.” But the exposure is all too brief. An interview on The Colbert Report typically lasts only a few minutes.

So it was interesting when Colbert stepped away from his comedic character for a more in-depth conversation with one of his frequent guests, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The interview took place last year at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey. Earlier this week Tyson uploaded the video to the website of the Hayden Planetarium, where he is director, but the server was overwhelmed by the resulting surge in traffic. So someone placed the version above on YouTube. It’s an interesting, and witty, one-hour-and-19-minute conversation. For more of Tyson with Colbert, you can watch his appearances on The Colbert Report at the Hayden Planetarium site.

via Kottke

Flashback 1995

- Watch "Lumière & Company"

Films By

Spike Lee,

Idrissa Ouedraogo,

Gaston Kaboré,

Youssef Chahine,

Merzak Allouache

Features by Tambay | December 23, 2011 

It's Friiiiiday! And it's also 2 days before Christmas - although you wouldn't know it here in NYC, with tempratures in the 60s yesterday, and 50s today. 

But with the week at its tail end, and a holiday looming, I expect today will be another slow news day, so don't expect much. I suspect some of you may have already *checked out* anyway, both physically and mentally.

A flashback treat this morning... you may recall this collaborative effort that took place in 1995 titled Lumière and Company; 40 internationally-recognized filmmakers selected to celebrate the first 100 years of cinema by contributing to a project while abiding by a strict list of rules:

First, they had to use the original Cinématographe camera first used by the Lumière Brothers (Louis and Auguste) in the 1895, 100 years before this collab effort.

Second, each flm couldn't be longer than 52 seconds.

Third, no synch sound.

And fourth, no more than 3 takes. 

With 40 filmmakers from all over the world contributing inidividual films to the project, it's only natural that the collection would be varied in terms of style and content; and they most certainly were.

Spike Lee, Burkinabe directors Idrissa Ouedraogo and Gaston Kaboré, Egyptian Youssef Chahine, and Algerian Merzak Allouache, were 5 of those 40 filmmakers, and, I believe, the only directors of African descent who were selected.

Luckily I found all 5 of their films on YouTube and embedded below for those who've never seen them.

And I should note that the films were made in the spirit and style of those made by the Lumière Brothers - so-called actualités, or actuality films, which were, in a nutshell, non-fiction films, precursors to documentaries, we could say, but without the arguments that usually accompany docs. The brothers documented real-life events, people, places, things etc with seemingly no real cohesion or objective other than just to do so; what you saw was what you got; slice of life footage we could call it. 

I mention all that because, as I recall when the collection of films was released, some people panned them for their lack of *imagination,* or called them boring, completely forgetting, or were just not aware of who and what the films were paying tribute to, as I just described. Although, some filmmakers chose to get a little creative with their contributions.

So, without further ado, here are the 5 contributions to 1995's Lumière and Company...

Spike Lee:

Idrissa Ouedraogo:

Gaston Kaboré:

Yusuf Shahin:

Merzak Allouache:

Simphiwe Dana

Simphiwe Dana featuring Mthwakazi

- iNkwenkwezi (Live)

Simphiwe Dana featuring Mthwakazi - INkwenkwezi, taken from DVD "An Evening with Simphiwe Dana". The song was originally released on album Kulture Noir, but Mthwakazi does not feature. She sings in a song called Undishiyile.

10 West African Club Tracks

December 23, 2011 By Boima Tucker 1 Comment

I’m a DJ. So it’s only right I give you ten songs that filled up my crates in 2011 to play out the year. No rankings, just the first 10 club friendly Afropop tracks I could think of:

When Benjamin Lebrave passed me Sarkodie and E.L.’s “U Go Kill Me” in Accra this summer, I knew that with the Ska piano skank, winding synth, minimal funky drum pattern, catchy chorus, and rapid fire verses, it would be high on my list for club tunes in 2011. Even better, it has become an anthem for the Asamoah Gyan inspired Azonto Dance.

DJ Arafat seems to come up with a new name/persona for every song. After I asked the Ivorian owner of a tape shop in Harlem for some new Coupe Decale, he played the intro for “Frapper Baboula Tala” about ten times in a row. I sometimes do the same thing when I’m alone in the house.

The Sahel Sounds blog brought my attention to some of my favorite music in 2011. After learning about Iba One, and subsequently obsessing over what else might be out there, I went on a Skyrock hunt for some of the latest Malian tunes. There I came across Kaba Blon’s “Moribiyassa” a song from the amazing Balani Show scene in Bamako. The song recently became available for purchase internationally on Sahel Sound’s Songs from Saharan Cellphones compilation, and the Masalacism label just released a full Décaler Balani compilation this week!

I learned about London based Nigerian girl pop group Shiikane via This is Africa. The Afropop remix of their cover of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s “I Wonder if I Take You Home” channels the Francophone club style so well that I think the Parisian take on Coupe Decale/Logobi might finally be ready for the Anglophone mainstream.

I heard Atumpan’s “The Thing” everywhere in Ghana and Liberia. My favorite part about hearing it in the club was seeing people sing mockingly to the closest person of the opposite sex, “I am teaching you the thing.” It features Stone from the Bradez.

Out of M.I.’s Chocolate City camp, Ice Prince’s debut single “Oleku” was the summer jam in 2011, and my favorite tune out of Nigeria. The double time piano line echoes another summer jam from the year before, but the minimal drum beat keeps a tension driven frenzy underneath the whole thing. When this would come on in the club everybody would move in slow exaggerated unison, and then explode into enthusiastic singing when Brymo’s chorus dropped.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one song dominate a nation’s psyche like Junior Freeman and African Soldier’s “Dumyarea” did in Liberia this summer. Maybe it was because it was an election season, and all the politicians co-opted the song for their own campaigns, but you could not go anywhere and not hear this populist anthem.

PepeSoup’s output has been astonishing in 2011. The “Pump Tire” single is one amongst a host of projects that the Italy based Liberian-Italian duo has put out on their Soupu Music label. Their sound takes influences from the vast range of House styles coming out of Europe, but mostly UK Funky which has been inserting a West African sensibility into its scene from the beginning.

So D’Banj singed with Kanye. I don’t know what that means, cause I’ve been waiting to hear anything from Sarkodie on Konvict for over a year now. Regardless, Oliver is a nice club tune, and I’m excited for the video to drop. Don Jazzy again!

Cabo Snoop and his genius producer I.V.M. Beats broke a more Kuduro influenced House sound into the Afropop mainstream in 2010. Unfortunately, I.V.M. Beats passed away in a tragic car crash early in 2011. Still, now that South African House has firmly made it to the electronic music mainstream, it’s Angola’s turn to shine. DJ X Trio is helping make sure that happens by remixing South African songs like Professor’s “Jezebel”. This tune was a staple in my sets this year. Check out Benjamin Lebrave’s write up on it at The Fader.

Happy New Year. See you on January 5, 2011.

Comments

1. phil says:
   December 23, 2011 at 3:37 pm

   Nice! Well done including the Kaba Blon track. This one is also absurd: gender dialogue in bambara, great stuff. I would add Eduwoji’s yenko nkoaa to the azonto craze. That track has overtaken sarkodie’s in recent months: .

   Great post. Thanks for the heads up on many I was unfamiliar with..

We are now accepting submissions of short fiction or memoir (2000 words or fewer) for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award. The first place winner's story will be considered for publication in the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC's upcoming anthology, Seasonal Pursuits: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales. Our previous publication, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.

 

Entry Requirements:

• Stories must be submitted using the form below
• Entries must be no more than 2000 words
• All entries must be previously unpublished, and adhere to our Terms and Conditions set out below
• Submissions must be received by midnight EST, Jan. 31, 2012
• Payments are requested within 24 hours of submissions. All payments must be received through PayPal no later than midnight EST on February 2, 2012

 

 

Entry Fee:

• $10 per story. 

Prizes:

• First prize: $200 and consideration for inclusion in the upcoming BWG anthology, Seasonal Pursuits: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales, scheduled for publication in late 2012. If it is not accepted for publication in the print anthology, it will be featured in an upcoming edition of the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. There is no guarantee of print publication
• Second prize: $100 and publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
• Third prize: $50 and publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
• Honorable Mentions: Stories may be selected for Honorable Mention and offered publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. 

 

Judging:

• Initial judging will be performed by members of the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC. Finalists will be notified by March 1, 2012. 
• Final selection of winners will be done by The New York Times best-selling author, Jonathan Maberry. Prize winners will be notified by April 1, 2012. 
• Contest winners will be announced on the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable website and on the Bethlehem Writers Group website (www.bethlehemwritersgroup.com) by April 30, 2012.

 

Terms and  Conditions:

 

1. Each story (fiction or memoir) must relate to the theme "Seasonal Pursuits," as interpreted by the author.

2. All submissions must be made using the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award Submission Form on this page.

3. Each story must be the original and unpublished work of the author. Work is considered published if it has appeared in whole or in part anywhere in print or online.

4. Authors must be 18 years of age or older. Proof of eligibility will be required for all prize winners.

5. All entries must be in the English language.

6. Submissions are limited to 2000 words or fewer. Submissions of over 2000 words will be disqualified and entry fees will not be refunded. The title and author's name do not count toward the word limit.

7. Stories are judged anonymously. The author's name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript(s). Please include "Submission" and your story's title in the subject line of the submission form. Your name, address, phone and email address must appear in the appropriate blocks on the submission form.

8. Multiple entries by the same author are permitted. There is a $10 fee required for each entry.

9. All entries must be received by midnight (EST) on January 31, 2012. Submissions received after the deadline will not be opened.

10. An entry fee of $10 is required for each entry. This fee is payable in response to our invoice through PayPal only. You do not need a PayPal account to use PayPal for this purpose. Payment must be received by midnight (EST) on February 2, 2012. Payments received after the deadline will be returned minus PayPal fees.

11. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but immediate notification is requred if your work is accepted elsewhere for publication. Entry fees are not refundable.

12. By entering this competition, the author is agreeing to abide by these Terms and Conditions. Any violation of these rules will result in disqualification.

13. Members of the Bethlehem Writers Group, the celebrity judge, and members of any of their immediate families (in the same household) are not eligible to enter. 

14. By submitting to the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, you certify that the work is solely your own, original work, is unpublished in any other electronic or print format, does not encroach on any trademark or copyright, and does not libel or defame any entity living or dead. You will indemnify and hold Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC harmless from any claims, causes of action, damages, or judgments arising out of publishing your submission.

15. Winners will grant Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, first serial publication rights to the winning story. The copyright of the work remains the property of the author, who, one month following publication of the work by the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, is free to publish the work elsewhere. 

16. Awards are as follows: FIRST PLACE AWARD: $200 and consideration for publication in the print anthology, Seasonal Pursuits: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales. Publication is anticipated in late 2012. If the story that wins the First Place Award is not selected for inclusion in that anthology, it will be published in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, the magazine of the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.  SECOND PLACE AWARD: $100 and publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. THIRD PLACE AWARD: $50 and publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. HONORABLE MENTIONS (if any) will be listed on the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable website and may be offered publication in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. 

17. Award winners, including Honorable Mentions, will grant the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, first serial publication rights in your work. The copyright of the work remains the property of the author, who, following publication of the work by the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, is free to publish the work elsewhere. Upon any subsequent publication, the author will ensure that work is accompanied by a statement indicating that the work was originally published by the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable or by the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, along with the date of such publication. If it was originally published in a print anthology, the name of the anthology will also appear in said statement.

18. The decisions of the judges are final.

19. This offer is void where prohibited by law.

 

Best of luck!

GO HERE FOR REQUIRED ENTRY FORM