My Mind Words Paper:
events - literary

Date: 15 - 17 June 2012

The Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival will take place at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles (369 East First Street), June 15-17, 2012.

The Festival celebrates stories of the Mixed experience and stories of multiracial Americans, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. A free two-day public event, the Festival brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial and multicultural families and individuals for workshops, readings, performances, and film screenings.

The Festival, a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, a non-profit organization, is produced by the co-hosts of the award-winning weekly podcast, Mixed Chicks Chat (www.mixedchickschat.com).

The event is free and open to the public; however, pre-registration is strongly encouraged. The complete Festival schedule can be found online at www.mxroots.org.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

The Festival hosts the largest West Coast Loving Day celebration, Saturday, June 16, 2012, at 6:30pm with the annual Loving Prize presentation. Mixed Unplugged—a live event with comedy, music, and spoken word—will be hosted by acclaimed TV and film actress Erica Gimpel (Fame, Profiler) and will feature comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele of Key & Peele. The presentation is held in conjunction with the 1000-person New York City Loving Day celebration, which is hosted by Loving Day (www.lovingday.org). Free.

Included in the program is a series of Special Family and Youth Events, which will take place on Saturday, June 16, 11am-4:00pm. Sarah Jamila Stevenson, author of the Latte Rebellion, will read and also lead and Create Your Own Movement workshop. Families can also enjoy interactive craft activities all day.

Scholar G. Reginald Daniel and children’s authors Kim Wayans & Kevin Knotts and will each receive a Loving Prize, the Festival's annual award for inspirational storytelling of the Mixed experience during the Saturday night Loving Prize Presentation, June 16, 2012, at 6:30pm.

The Festival will present several feature films including Oscar-shortlist selection The Loving Story (dir. Nancy Buirski), the definitive account of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage. This evocative documentary, which incorporates luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their young Jewish lawyers as well as first-person testimony and rare documentary photographs by LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet, recounts the little-known story of the Loving family. The Festival is also pleased to present several award-winning short films.

The Festival includes author readings by award-winning writers Mat Johnson (Pym, Incognegro), Faith Adiele (Meeting Faith), and many others.

Filmmaking and Writing workshops will be held by published authors and professional filmmakers. For example, Moviola (post production rental house and digital arts institute) will host Making the Microbudget Film: Pre-, Production, and Post- for Under $200,000. Award-winning poet Neil Aitken will present a workshop and Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse will guide emerging artists in how best to direct actors.

Festival sponsors include: Japanese American National Museum (www.janm.org), Zerflin.com, Moviola, Greenhouse Productions, the Flourish Foundation and MyJennyBook.com. Skylight Books is the Festival’s official bookseller.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: mxrootsfest@gmail.com

Website: http://www.mxroots.org

Date: 8 - 10 June 2012

The National Black Book Festival
Doubletree Hotel - 400 Dallas St. -
Downtown Houston, Texas

The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) is an annual event, sponsored by Cushcity.com, the world's largest African-American retailer online. The event attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide. NBBF 2012, the 5th anniversary event, will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Downtown Houston.

The event features a pavilion of authors, including those who are notable and new. Book signing and discussion sessions with featured authors, workshops and seminars, a spoken word poetry slam and door prizes are just a few of the exciting featured activities at NBBF. Authors will be grouped according to genre and there are 19 genres that will be represented.

The Festival is open to the public and admission is $5.00 per day for adults and teens. Admission is FREE for children under the age of 12.

All events will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Downtown Houston. The Festival schedule includes the following events (items with asterisk [*] are ticketed events which require ticket purchase in advance):

Friday, June 8, 2012 @ 7:00 p.m.
"Welcome to Houston" Reception*

Friday, June 8, 2012 - 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Private Slumber Party (Authors TBA)*
Ladies only - Must be 18 years of age

Saturday, June 9, 2012 @ 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
"Get Acquainted" Breakfast*

Sunday, June 10, 2012 @ 9:00 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service

Sunday, June 10, 2012 @ 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Sunday Jazz Brunch*

Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 4:00 p.m.
Spoken Word Poetry Slam

Tickets for the above events may be purchased online here:

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: info@nationalblackbookfestival.com

Website: http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com

Date: 5 June 2012

Join Kat Williamd from Sippin on Ink and feed your literary appetite as she talks with some of our best LGBTQ Authors on writing and how to get published. Guests will have the opportunity to chat with the authors and purchase books for signing before listening to author presentations over brunch.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.orlandoblackpride.eventbrite.com or www.orlandoblackpride.com. Please purchase in advance as space is limited.

Brunch items - Mimosa, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Chicken & Vegetable Kabobs, Home Fries, Texas Rice, Caesar Salad, Rolls, and Coffee

BOOKS AND BRUNCH
Sunday, June 5 · 11:00am - 2:00pm
Orlando Vista Hotel
12490 Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL
$20 Entry & Brunch
$10 Entry only

Once you purchase a ticket you are automatically entered in a raffle for a chance to win a gift basket containing a copy of all the authors involved in Books & Brunch latest release!

Featuring authors: Fiona Zedde, Cheril N Clarke, Spoken, Sherry Michelle, Otis Randolph, G. Winston James, Skyy and of course Anondra "Kat" Williams of Sippin' on Ink.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Website: http://www.orlandoblackpride.com/

Date: 4 June 2012 (5pm)

Mit ihrer Vielseitigkeit personifiziert die kenianische Spoken Word-Dichterin Ngwatilo Mawiyoo die facettenreiche, bunte Poesieszene Kenias: Gedichte werden dort in Radiosendungen vorgestellt, Blogs, youtoube und social media sind von Gedichten durchströmt, die Szene ist äußerst aktiv und innovativ. Gedichte werden zu Filmen geschrieben, in der Kunstform »Koroga« werden lyrische Aphorismen mit Fotos in einen kunstvollen Dialog gestellt. Ngwatilo Mawiyoo verwendet all diese Formen.

Der Autor, Gelehrte und Philosoph Euphrase Kezilahabi gilt als einer der einflussreichsten Erneuerer der Swahili-Literatur. Er verwirft die starren literarischen Formen, die bis dahin in dieser Literatur herrschten, verwendet in seiner Lyrik den freien Vers, schreibt über Sexualität sowie gesellschaftliche Erneuerung und lässt die Bilder, Darstellungen und Ausdrucksweisen zurück, die bis zum Erscheinen seiner Werke tradiert waren. Mit der Autorin und Übersetzerin Uljana Wolf sprechen sie über die Poesieszene in Kenia und Tansania.

Sponsored by the German Foreign Office with the kind support of AfricAvenir International e.V., Episcopal relief organisation MISEREOR, Seminar for African Studies, Humboldt Universität Berlin

Projektleitung: Isabel Ferrin-Aguirre
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, Clubraum
Admission: € 5 / 3
Ticketing information

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: mail@literaturwerkstatt.org

Website: http://www.poesiefestival.org

Deadline: 15 June 2012

There is growing interest within the global health community in the potential public health impact of integrating different health services into a single delivery setting. Integrating programs for HIV, family planning (FP), and maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) would address patients’ multiple needs at once, and may enhance program effectiveness and efficiency.

Integration for Impact, an international conference devoted to this topic, aims to bring together key stakeholders from sub-Saharan countries with a high burden of HIV, unmet need for FP, and high child and maternal morbidity/mortality to:

• Present the latest research findings on the impact of integrating HIV and reproductive health services including: family planning, maternal and child health, and STI prevention and cervical cancer screening;
• Identify research priorities for expanding the evidence base on integration; and
• Lay out strategies for strengthening integration policies and translating research into practice.

If you are a journalist and would like to apply for a journalist scholarship, please use the same registration form to apply.

JOURNALIST SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION INFORMATION

These scholarships are open to journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers or television news producers; staff journalists as well as freelancers who live and work in the following sub-Sahara Africa countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameron, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.

Journalists will be given official media passes, access to the press centre, and the chance to write in the conference bulletin. Each Journalist will be expected to produce:

• At least five quality articles (between 200 – 500 words) on the various themes of the conference that can be used in the conference bulletin and to inform the advocacy initiatives of the Integration Technical Working Group
• Daily summaries of the proceedings and/or interesting / relevant newsflashes from the conference, to be posted online in real time
• A final in-depth piece on your experience at the Integration Conference (as a 1000 word feature article, photography set or video or audio piece)

• A 250-word proposal describing a specific story on issues of reproductive health and HIV;
• A brief description of applicant’s knowledge of or experience reporting on issues of reproductive health and HIV;
• A brief description of applicant’s experience with video, photography, radio, printand web media;
• A letter from applicant’s editor or supervisor that gives permission to participate in the Integration for Impact Conference and that signals a strong commitment to publish or broadcast applicant’s on the topic;
• A list of three priority issues that applicant would cover during the conference;
• Two most recently published and authenticated articles relevant to reproductive health and HIV;
• A copy of press card.

• Full Conference Registration
• Return Economy airfare to Kenya
• Accommodation in Kenya for up to 4 nights (at the discretion of the organizers)
• Visa application fee
• Airport transfers in Kenya

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For enquiries: contact@integration2012.org

Website: http://integration2012.org

Deadline: 17 - 21 May 2012

On the wave of the “Arab Spring”, synonym of transformation and renewal, Baad El Bahr Cultural Association (BEBA) is launching the third edition of the Cairo Mediterranean Literary Festival, an event that has proven itself a tangible demonstration of the possibility of constructive dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

Baad El Bahr, founded as a nonprofit in 2008 (www.baadelbahr.org), is a cultural association based in Cairo and created by individuals from diverse national and cultural backgrounds, involved for years in various branches of Egypt's cultural life. The association offers to the public workshops, conferences, exhibitions and long term activities such as the translation and publication of literary texts and the ongoing Cairo Mediterranean Literary Festival, an annual appointment with different themes.

“Literature and humor” was the theme of the festival first edition (5-12 May 2010). It was co-sponsored by the Delegation of the European Community in Egypt. “Literature and humor” gave a particular emphasis to Arabic and romance languages. Guests came from Italy, France, Spain, Egypt, Lebanon and Algeria.

“Literature and the city” was the theme of the second edition (21-25 May 2011). Guests were, for the most part, contemporary authors whose works reflect the often radical changes that have taken place in cities in the last twenty years. The festival hosted writers from Italy and Egypt who participated in round table discussion.

The 2012 edition of the festival is entitled “Literature and Body” and will take place in Cairo from the 17thto the 21st May 2012.

The festival this year explores the long-standing but inexhaustible relationship between "literature and the body."

The body has been present through centuries of literature as an object of constant attention, undergoing continuous changes, but without losing its freshness and its ability to amaze us.

To paraphrase the title of a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver, what is it we talk about when we talk about the body, in our modern times?

There is probably no vision more different, from one side to the other of the Mediterranean, from country to country, than that of the body. So it will be more interesting than ever this year to hear the voices from different cultural backgrounds, incited in different ways to probe themselves and each other.

The theatrical reading form seems to us particularly suitable for this edition, where the text is elevated by the physicality of the “rap-rep”. There will also be conferences for deeper reflection, face-to-face or virtual encounters between authors, visual support in the form of two major exhibitions dedicated to the body and films and documentaries, as well as interactive seminars and book presentations. All of these, we hope, will make for discussion that is as vibrant and vital as the body itself.

Most of the guests are contemporary authors from the Mediterranean basin such has the French philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky and the Egyptian philosopher Anwar Moghith, the Lebanese director Jocelyne Saab, the Italian authors Simonetta Agnello Hornby and Viola Di Grado, the actress Fernanda Calati, Alessandro Golinelli, the Spanish writer Maria Laura Espido Freire and more.

The festival events will take place in different venues in Cairo in partnership with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Institut Français, Instituto Cervantes, Mashrabia Gallery, British Council, Goethe Institut, Alitalia and Rising Stars.

Links: festival program, guests

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Website: http://www.cairomedliteraryfestival.org/

Date: 26 May 2012

Award-winning writer and journalist, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, will be the featured author on May 26 at the Guest Writer Session an initiative of the Abuja Writers’ Forun (AWF) which started in June 2008 and has become the template for similar programmes nationwide. The Guest Writer Session which this year featured Uche Ezechukwu, Steve Okecha, Oyibo Ameh, K K Iloduba and Betty Abah holds by 4pm at Hamdala Plaza, Plot 23, Jimmy Carter Street, off Protea Hotel, Asokoro, Abuja.

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim has been fascinated with writing from a much younger age, which was what motivated him to dump the sciences and study Mass Communications at the University of Jos.

He has dabbled into poetry and plays but is more at home with prose. He won the BBC African Performance Prize in 2007 and the ANA Plateau/Amatu Braide Prize for Prose the following year. He also emerged runner-up for the ANA Plateau Poetry Prize.

He is a fellow of the British Council Radiophonics creative writing workshop and has been selected for the Fidelity Bank Creative Writing Workshop as well as the Caine Prize for African Writing workshop (2012) – which he could not attend because of the Nigeria-South Africa Yellow fever row.

His radio drama, A Bull Man’s Story which fetched him the BBC African Performance Prize in 2007 was highly commended by the judges for the writer’s ‘ability to enter the minds of his character’.

He published his first novel, The Quest for Nina in 2009 with a small publishing outfit in the US and has gone on to feature on several online webzines where his short fictions and essays have been well received locally and internationally.

He has been featured in Daughters of Eve and Other New Short Stories from Nigeria published by CCC Press, London in 2010.

His debut collection of short stories, The Whispering Trees, is published in Nigeria by Parresia Publishers, Lagos and has been receiving positive endorsement within the literary community in Nigeria. In the words of poet and activist Odia Ofeimun, Ibrahim has writes “stories that haunt with a telling animist-realist sensibility” and he “ draws on old, intriguing traditions of folklore to thresh new and challenging insight into how we live today.” For A. Igoni Barrett, “fire and smoke, snapshots of life and brushstrokes of afterlife, the mystical running alongside domestic commonplaces, these are the energetic strains of ” Ibrahim’s debut story collection. While Helon Habila regards Ibrahim as a writer to look out for.

Educated at the University of Jos, Nigeria, where he obtained a degree in Mass Communication, Abubakar had a stint with the Vanguard newspaper. He is currently the Arts Editor of Abuja based Sunday Trust newspaper.

Since its inception four years ago, the Guest Writer Session has been a consistent feature of the nation’s literary scene. The May 26, 2012 edition will include the usual side attractions of poetry performance, mini art exhibition, and a raffle-draw as well as live music. The Abuja Writer’s Forum meets three Sundays each month and hosts a reading on every last Saturday at the International Institute of Journalism, Hamdala Plaza, Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: abujawriters@fastermail.com

Website: http://www.abujawritersforum.com/

Date: 4 June 2012 (5pm)

Mit ihrer Vielseitigkeit personifiziert die kenianische Spoken Word-Dichterin Ngwatilo Mawiyoo die facettenreiche, bunte Poesieszene Kenias: Gedichte werden dort in Radiosendungen vorgestellt, Blogs, youtoube und social media sind von Gedichten durchströmt, die Szene ist äußerst aktiv und innovativ. Gedichte werden zu Filmen geschrieben, in der Kunstform »Koroga« werden lyrische Aphorismen mit Fotos in einen kunstvollen Dialog gestellt. Ngwatilo Mawiyoo verwendet all diese Formen.

Der Autor, Gelehrte und Philosoph Euphrase Kezilahabi gilt als einer der einflussreichsten Erneuerer der Swahili-Literatur. Er verwirft die starren literarischen Formen, die bis dahin in dieser Literatur herrschten, verwendet in seiner Lyrik den freien Vers, schreibt über Sexualität sowie gesellschaftliche Erneuerung und lässt die Bilder, Darstellungen und Ausdrucksweisen zurück, die bis zum Erscheinen seiner Werke tradiert waren. Mit der Autorin und Übersetzerin Uljana Wolf sprechen sie über die Poesieszene in Kenia und Tansania.

Sponsored by the German Foreign Office with the kind support of AfricAvenir International e.V., Episcopal relief organisation MISEREOR, Seminar for African Studies, Humboldt Universität Berlin

Projektleitung: Isabel Ferrin-Aguirre
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, Clubraum
Admission: € 5 / 3
Ticketing information

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: mail@literaturwerkstatt.org

Website: http://www.poesiefestival.org

Deadline: 21 May - 2 June 2012

Art Sanctuary, located in North Philadelphia, uses the power of black art to transform individuals, unite groups of people, and enrich, and draw inspiration from the inner city. We invite established and aspiring artists to help create excellent lectures, performances, and educational programs.

28TH ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF BLACK WRITING

Noted journalists, writers and performance artists from across the U.S. will join Art Sanctuary, Philadelphia’s leading African-American arts and letters organization devoted to presenting outstanding regional and national talent in the literary, visual and performing arts, for the 28th Annual Celebration of Black Writing Festival.

The Celebration of Black Writing is one of the nation’s longest-running celebrations of contemporary black writing. Robin’s Books’ black history month writing conference, started in 1984, has grown to today’s full-fledged festival held the first weekend of June on Temple’s campus and across the city.

Running from May 21, 2012 to June 2, 2012, Celebration of Black Writing will offer 13 days of literary discussions and workshops, music showcases, and film screenings.This year’s celebration includes:

• Children and young adult author Jacqueline Woodson, with Philadelphia Reading Olympics youth group matinee
• A public conversation with artist and cultural planner Theaster Gates and Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beckwith
• Photographer Sed Miles and the Wanderlust International travel exhibition
• Philly Youth Rising: Standing on the Shoulders’ – with performances by the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement, 215 Spoken Soul, and In the Company of Poets
• Panel discussions on Advocacy Journalism, ‘What is Urban Fiction?,’ Black Mental Health, ‘Writing from your Spiritual Axis,’ and featuring writers such as author Bernice McFadden and journalist Akiba Solomon, as well as Atria books editor Malaika Adero and activist and agent April Silver

A one of a kind literary feast, Celebration of Black Writing provides writers and artists an opportunity to discuss their work with up to 1,500–2,000 students, and another 2,000–3,000 people participate in panels, workshops, teachers’ symposium, Family Pavilion, main stage, and other events. The Celebration features up to 75 professional and aspiring writers, editors, publishers, scholars, spoken-word artists, performance artists, playwrights, and filmmakers. This year, selected panels and workshops will be streamed live for the first time online, and also be archived so that new and enthusiastic readers and writers can access them anytime!

Register for the free events/ panel discussions here.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: events@artsanctuary.org or call 215-232-4485

Website: http://artsanctuary.org/

Date: 22 May 2012

You are cordially invited to the public presentation and launching of Launko Blues, a collection of poems in celebration of Femi Osofisan, edited by Ebika Anthony. The presentation/ launch is scheduled on May 22nd (Tuesday) at 10am at the Arts Theatre, University of Ibadan.

Your presence will be highly appreciated.

Lanuko Blues is a collection which every lover of scintillating poetry must possess.

RSVP: Ebika Anthony at 08034822937