Aberjhani's Blog: Notes of a 21st Century Digital Scribe, page 31

Biographer reveals source of magic behind author's success (Part 1)

After rumors of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's sensitive health issues began to circulate around the Internet several years ago, readers worldwide began to fear the great Nobel Laureate (1982) had written and published his final books. Videos posted on YouTube featured a "farewell note" reportedly written by him and many acknowledged their respect for the man and his accomplishments. That ...

read more

Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black: It's All About the Sharing

The forthcoming publication of Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black was announced more than a year ago. You can tell from the title that the book is something of a compendium of my works in poetry, basically combining three previously published books: I Made My Boy Out of Poetry, Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black, and The Bridge of Silver Wings. Taken as a whole, they make up the ...

read more

It's All about the Sharing

The forthcoming publication of Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black was announced more than a year ago. You can tell from the title that the book is something of a compendium of my works in poetry, basically combining three previously published books: I Made My Boy Out of Poetry, Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black,, and The Bridge of Silver Wings. Taken as a whole, they make up the bulk of my poems written, performed, and published over the past two decades.

So why the long wait for publication? Partly because I have yet to settle on a potential publisher for the title, and, because a potential publisher has yet to settle on it. The other reason is because much of my literary energy over the past year has in fact been dedicated to editing and promoting the works of others. Some might find such a statement odd and wonder why I would take time and effort away from own work to apply to someone else’s. The answer involves something I have always considered a major motivating principle behind America’s celebration of Thanksgiving: it’s all about the sharing.

Individual aesthetic sensibility combined with collective creative vision is what makes moments of literary significance possible. The singular names of authors such as Agatha Christie, Richard Wright, or Salman Rushdie might stand out with personalized intensity for many readers but it doesn’t take much digging around to discover that all at some point required major support to elevate them to the iconic status eventually achieved. For me, the goal has never been so much about attaining such status as it has been about tending to the culture of meaningful literature in all its forms, helping to safeguard its priceless the legacy, and living the brilliant heat of its passionate inspiration. One of the very best way to do all of that is precisely by contributing what one can to the endeavors of others.

That, however, does not leave Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black in a state of limbo. It means only that the title continues to develop and mature in its own way. And it is in honor of that time-tested process and in the spirit of literary Thanksgiving sharing that I am posting the book with sections from it at this time. Please enjoy it, share the pages, and have a great holiday season,

Aberjhani

Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black

Barack Obama, the Tea Party, and the Art of Political Persuasions Part 1

For the better part of 2010, I've been working as part of an editorial team to help produce a series of history books on America's antebellum South.  Like many of us who delve deeply into the past with hopes of retrieving something useful for the present, my attention became so absorbed by the issues and happenings of the mid 1800s that I overlooked some of the more pressing issues and events of ...

read more

John Legend and The Roots Issue Wake Up Call (series part 1): Hard Funky Times

There is much to praise and little to criticize in WAKE UP!, the recent eleven-song album release from neosoul music master John Legend and legendary urban funksters band The Roots. In the world of music, genius plus genius often equals a beautiful thing, and this album is indeed a beautiful thing comprised of a sonic cluster of rhythm and blues, spoken word , hip hop, jazz, and uncut funk. ...

read more

Google Books Offers Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance Preview

 For the first time since the publication of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts On File) in 2003, Google Books has recently added an extended preview to its listing of the title. The preview includes a full-screen color reproduction of the cover, which features artwork by celebrated artist Jacob Lawrence, the foreword and authors' notes, and free access to more than 100 ...

read more

Literary Movements and the 7th Anniversary of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

My long-term romance with the idea that literary movements define and bookmark significant heroic moments in cultural history began long before I understood who or what had stolen my heart. Yet it seems to have been there for at least as long as long as earlier adolescent passions for playing football or running foot races. There can be little doubt that it played a major role in my decision to ...

read more

21st Century Digital Authors on the Rise

It's a curious thing to call oneself an author in this early half of the twenty-first century. The word now means so much more than it did when classic authors such as William Shakespeare, Frederick Douglass, or Anais Nin made their claims to literary fame. Although their works may have been as emotionally, politically, and ideologically informed as that of the accomplished twenty-first ...

read more

Part 2: Author Gore Vidal and the Sexual Signs of Our Political Times

Continued from Part 1 of Author Gore Vidal and the Sexual Signs of Our Political Times These biographies on Tennessee Williams proved particularly vulnerable to the blade of Vidal's wit because of his friendship with the playwright, whom he nicknamed "the Glorious Bird." Such intimacy with Williams allows Vidal to excuse himself from the task of reviewing and to take a more pleasant ...

read more

Author Gore Vidal and the Sexual Signs of Our Political Times (Part 1)

Between ongoing debates over governmental reforms, the plight of illegal immigrants, same-sex marriage, and a world economy as fragile as the Gulf Coast marshland, conversations focused on politics and sexuality have rarely been as heated as during the sweltering summer of 2010. The debates may be  progress now but many elements of what they address were tackled head-on by venerable author Gore ...

read more