Frank X Walker: NAACP Image Award Winner

Courtesy of the author

Congratulations, Frank X Walker! His book, TURN ME LOOSE, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry.


The 45th annual ceremony was held in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 22. More information about the awards, including a list of all the winners, can be found here.


TURN ME LOOSE is a collection of poetry that speaks out on the life and loss of Medgar Evers. The book was published last May, for the 50th anniversary of his death.


 On June 12, 1963, Evers was assassinated in the driveway of his Mississippi home by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. The first NAACP field secretary for Mississippi, Evers's death was the first assassination of a high-ranking public figure in the civil rights movement. The poems in TURN ME LOOSE unleash the strong emotions both before and after the moment of assassination and take on the voices of Evers's widow, Myrlie; his brother, Charles; his assassin, Byron De La Beckwith; and each of De La Beckwith's two wives. Except for the book's title, "Turn me loose," which were his final words, Evers remains in this collection silent.

Short Takes

Congratulations to our designers and fellow university presses! The Association of American University Press (AAUP) has just revealed the entries that made the 2014 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show. Two UGA Press titles were selected for the scholarly typographic category: THE LARDER and RED, WHITE, AND BLACK MAKE BLUE. THIEVES I'VE KNOWN was selected for the trade typographic category. "Approximately 263 books, 330 jacket and cover designs, and 4 journals were entered. 39 books, 22 jackets and covers, and 1 journal were chosen by the jurors as the very best examples from this pool of excellent design." The full list is available here.

Two big author events are happening tomorrow (2/20):

•  Paul M. Pressly, author of ON THE RIM OF THE CARIBBEAN, will be giving a talk on "Colonial Georgia: Caribbean Influences and the British Atlantic World" in the University of Georgia Chapel (Athens, GA) at 4:00pm. A signing will follow. The talk is part of the 2014 Global Georgia Initiative, a program of the Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

•  Dr. Louis W. Sullivan will be speaking about his book, BREAKING GROUND, at the Barnes and Noble in Buckhead (Atlanta, GA) at 7:00pm. A signing will follow.

A book review published in the American Journal of Sociology describes Alison Hope Akon's BLACK, WHITE, AND GREEN as an “excellent insiders critique of market-oriented environmentalism, embodied in the farmers’ market movement."

According to Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Lisa M. Brady's WAR UPON THE LAND is a "sophisticated and highly original volume leads scholars to consider important new questions about the relationship between the war and environmental change."
 
The Baptist Times recently said the stories in Julian Hoffman's THE SMALL HEART OF THINGS "show us how the doors of our perception are opened, if, like the author, we pay loving attention to the places around us." To read the full review, click here.

THE HORRIBLE GIFT OF FREEDOM by Marcus Wood was praised by the Journal of African American History describing it as "a scholarly and well-written addition to the study of art, history, literature, and African, African American, and African Diaspora Studies.”

H-Net commented on THE PROBLEM SOUTH saying Natalie J. Ring's "challenge to step back and see the South as a part of the nation's policy and rhetoric of empire deserves attention and further pursuit." To read the full review, click here.

As reviewed by the Journal of African American History, Julie Buckner Armstrong's MARY TURNER AND THE MEMORY OF LYNCHING is "[w]ell crafted and well written"and "offers a thorough investigation of the South’s scarred social and cultural landscape."

The Journal of Southern History says APPLES AND ASHES by Coleman Hutchison is "a work of literary history, but it has much to offer scholars from other fields" including cultural and intellectual historians and scholars interested in nationalism.

The Colonial Latin American Historical Review recommends David Correia's PROPERTIES OF VIOLENCE for "classroom use, land grant research, as well as the general reader seeking to learn more about New Mexico’s history."

H-Net shared a review of STREETS OF MEMORY by Amy Mills saying it "is a welcome contribution to classes focusing on theory and applied methods, gender and state formation in urban contexts as well as to advanced courses on Turkish republican history." The full review is available here.

Winners Announced for the AWP Creative Nonfiction Award, National Poetry Series, and Cave Canem Poetry Prize

We're pleased to announce the winners of several creative writing awards. Look for these soon-to-be published books this fall.

Association of Writers and Writing Programs

Congratulations to Sarah Gorham for winning this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction with her work STUDY IN PERFECT. Gorham is a poet, essayist, and publisher who resides in Prospect, Kentucky. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa and her BA from Antioch College. She currently has four published collections of poetry including DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP, THE TENSION ZONE, THE CURE, and BAD DAUGHTER. Her poems and essays have been published widely, and she has won several awards, along with grants and fellowships. In March 1994 Gorham founded Sarabande Books, a small press devoted to the publication of poetry, short fiction, and literary nonfiction. She currently serves as president and editor-in-chief. She is the wife of fellow poet Jeffrey Skinner, the mother of two daughters, and a grandmother.

Sarah Gorham’s STUDY IN PERFECT will be published by the University of Georgia Press in the fall of 2014. Last year’s winner, THE SMALL HEART OF THINGS by Julian Hoffman, was published by UGA Press in October 2013.

STUDY IN PERFECT is a book that wholeheartedly delves into ‘the many-faceted idea of perfection.’ Drawing from the realms of science, philosophy, linguistics, social history, and personal reminiscence, the writer uses the abundance of knowledge and intuition at her disposal to define these facets. In doing so, she probes the human capacity to imagine perfection and to seek its illusive promise despite the odds against finding it. In many ways, this is a book about yearning and imperfection as much as it is about the ideals we strive for, and the author’s humanizing touch makes STUDY IN PERFECT not only informative but emotionally rewarding as well. It’s not often that I encounter a writer whose prose is this precise and lyrical and whose imaginative leaps are as articulate, unpredictable, and entertaining.—Bernard Cooper

 
National Poetry Series

The National Poetry Series is pleased to announce the results of the 2013 open competition. The winning books are scheduled for publication in the summer of 2014.

AMPERSAND REVISITED, by Simeon Berry of Somerville, Massachusetts
Chosen by Ariana Reines, to be published by Fence Books

TRESPASS, by Thomas Dooley of New York, New York
Chosen by Charlie Smith, to be published by HarperCollins Publishers

BONE MAP, by Sara Eliza Johnson of Salt Lake City, Utah
Chosen by Martha Collins, to be published by Milkweed Editions

ITS DAY BEING GONE, by Rose McLarney of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Chosen by Robert Wrigley, to be published by Penguin Books

WHAT RIDICULOUS THINGS WE COULD ASK OF EACH OTHER, by Jeffrey Schultz of Los Angeles, California
Chosen by Kevin Young, to be published by University of Georgia Press

The National Poetry Series was established in 1978 to ensure the publication of poetry books annually through participating publishers. More than 160 books have been awarded since the series’ inception. Publication is funded by the Lannan Foundation, Stephen Graham, the Joyce & Seward Johnson Foundation, Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds, and the Poetry Foundation.

For more information, please contact 

The Coordinator 

The National Poetry Series 

57 Mountain Avenue 

Princeton, NJ 08540 

Phone: 609.430.0999 Fax: 609.430.9933 

Jeffrey Schultz's poems have appeared in Boston Review, Indiana Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry, and elsewhere and have been featured on the PBS Newshour's Art Beat and Poetry Daily. He's received the "Discovery"/Boston Review prize and a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at Pepperdine University.

Cave Canem

Established in 1999, this first-book award is dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by African American poets. The participation of distinguished judges and prominent literary presses has made this prize highly competitive.

2013 Winner: F. Douglas Brown for his manuscript ZERO TO THREE

These poems lead us from the birth cry in a hospital delivery room, to dusk and revelry in Spain, to modern-day Florida and history-laden Mississippi where Trayvon Martin and Emmitt Till were slain. Even when what Brown has set out to do is grieve loss, his lines move with a buoyant, marrow-deep music, percussive and rich. They move like ‘a train, bound to a destination’ and they arrive with ‘the crackle lightning makes when it hits.’—Tracy K. Smith 

2013 Honorable Mentions: Leon Baham for THE BOOK OF IMAGINARY BOYS and Donika Ross for AMERICAN TAXONOMIES.

F. Douglas Brown, an educator for nearly twenty years, currently teaches English at Loyola High School of Los Angeles, an all-boys Jesuit school. He has an MA in literature and creative writing from San Francisco State University and a BA in English from Santa Clara University. Mr. Brown is both a Cave Canem and Kundiman fellow, two writing organizations that celebrate and cultivate African American and Asian American poets, respectively. Brown has two children, Isaiah and Olivia. When he is not parenting, writing, or teaching, Brown is busy deejaying in the greater Los Angeles area.

Short Takes

Atlanta Magazine reviews Glenn T. Eskew's JOHNNY MERCER, saying that while it is long and, at times, slightly academic, "nothing detracts from the richness and depth of Mercer's life story."

In a story on the 90th birthday of Booker T. Washington High School, Fox 5 Atlanta interviews several of its graduates, including Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, author of BREAKING GROUND. Watch the video here. (Dr. Sullivan's interview begins at 2:47.) If you look closely, you will see Dr. Sullivan holding a copy of BREAKING GROUND. Here's some trivia: the images featured in the interview also appear in his book.

According to The Rumpus, Cynthia Lowen's THE CLOUD THAT CONTAINED THE LIGHTNING uses a "somewhat fragmented and compelling five-act structure"to "to talk about what happens to any of us when we depart the precincts of our more rational, empathetic consciousness; when we are driven . . ., to have a family, to have love, and still somehow also be responsible for creating something that can end to human life on an apocalyptic scale."

The Women's Review of Books reviews Jane Gerhard's "important, overdue contribution to the history of feminism." THE DINNER PARTY "finds value and meaning in feminist cultural expressions." Judy Chicago's THE DINNER PARTY will be released by Monacelli Press this April and features contributions by Jane Gerhard. More information is available from the publisher's website.

Georgia Public Broadcasting interviewed Leslie M. Harris and Daina Ramey Berry about their new book, SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN SAVANNAH. An article about the radio piece is available here.

Author Maurice C. Daniels will be speaking about his book, SAVING THE SOUL OF GEORGIA, and famed civil rights attorney Donald L. Hollowell at the Decatur Library on February 24. A Georgia Center for the Book event, the talk will start at 7:15pm and be followed by a book signing.

THE PROBLEM SOUTH by Natalie J. Ring was recently reviewed by Southeastern Geographer saying, "The Problem South is a richly researched book that is of clear relevance to any human geographer studying issues of southern and national identities from the 1800s to the present day.

The AAG Review of Books describes Don Mitchell's THEY SAVED THE CROPS as an "extensively researched tome on the central role of the Bracero Program in changing the landscape of California’s agricultural labor and property relations."

The AAG Review of Books reviews BLACK, WHITE, AND GREEN, saying the book's "insights will be well received in fields including, but not limited to, food studies, critical race studies, urban studies, and cultural geography." 

Congratulations to Andrea Feeser and Kari Frederickson! Their books, RED, WHITE, AND BLACK MAKE BLUE and COLD WAR DIXIE (respectively), were named as finalists for the George C. Rogers, Jr. Book Award from the South Carolina Historical Society.

ON THE RIM OF THE CARIBBEAN author Paul M. Pressly will be speaking at the University of Georgia on Thursday, February 20. His talk is part of the Willson Center's Global Georgia Initiative series. The talk will begin at 4:00pm in the Chapel and be followed by a book signing. More information is available here.

Atlanta actress Brenda Bynum will present a “Jordan is So Chilly: An Encounter with Lillian Smith,” a solo performance drawn largely from unpublished autobiographical writings by the author. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the University of Georgia Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. A reception will follow. For many years, UGA Press kept Lillian Smith's STRANGE FRUIT in print and now we publish MEMORY OF A LARGE CHRISTMAS.