WOW! Press e-Newsletter
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Janis F. Kearney |
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WOW! E-Newsletter Archives
Current Newsletter Spring, 2007 Fall, 2006 Summer, 2006 July, 2004 March, 2004 December, 2003
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In This Issue:
WOW Press offers Hands Across the Waters and Sable Lit Launch Photo Gallery
Janis F. Kearney Farewell Photo Gallery
Family: A Six-letter Word Defines our World
WOW Press offers Hands Across the Waters
Chicago’s literary artists and advocates joined Writing our World Press publisher Janis F. Kearney on March 06, to celebrate a Chicago Launching of Sable Lit Magazine -- a ten-year old UK-based literary magazine for writers of the African diaspora. The Magazine has introduced and featured writers from all over the world, including numerous U.S. writers of color: Paula Marshe, Sonia Sanchez, Jill Nelson, Edward P. Jones, Marita Golden, Kevin Powell, E. Ethelbert Miller, Janis F. Kearney, and many others.
The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Sable Lit Publisher Kadija George. George, who is a published poet and editor of several books, shared the history of the Literary Magazine, and her work for the last 20 years as a literary advocate in her current home in the UK, but also throughout the African continent.
WOW Press Publisher Janis F. Kearney shared with the audience that hers and Kadija George’s paths crossed by happenstance five years ago, when she was invited, via internet, to participate in a London-based writing program. Since that meeting, Kearney has visited the UK twice, introducing first, her memoir, then her Clinton oral biography, to the UK community. She urges U.S. writers of color to reach beyond their comfort zone, and discover the depth of writing taking place in other parts of the world.
Another highlight of that literary evening was a presentation and performance by Cincinnati-based artist Valdasia Merrick, who is founding director of Joseph Dream-Darfur, an ambitious nonprofit youth program whose primary goal is to raise funds for the children of Darfur.
For more information on SableLit Magazine, you can go to www.sablelitmag.org.
Sable Lit Launch Photo Gallery
 Janis F. Kearney with BooksInk Proprietor Constance Shabazz |
 Valdasia Merrick performs a moving tribute to the children of Darfur |
 Janis F. Kearney with Chicago author Erin Goseer Mitchell |
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SableLit
Magazine |
Kadija George talks about SableLit |
(l to r) Averyl Bailey, DC political/events strategist; Kadija George, Sablelit Publisher; Janis F. Kearney; Valdasia Merrick, founder, Joseph Dream-Darfur; Jennifer Brown, Chicago-based literary advocate |
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 Holly Campbell, Chicago radio personality |
 Rita G. Lewis, producer, w/her daughter Tekone Lewis |
 Oba Williams, Chicago actor and artist |
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Photographs courtesy of Marian I. Jones ©2007 |
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Janis F. Kearney Farewell Photo Gallery
 Janis F. Kearney with Chicago author and artist Ronne Hartsfield (l) and sister. |
 Janis F. Kearney with TV personality Robbie Smith (l) and event host Mamie Rodgers. |
 Janis F. Kearney with local educational consultant Sharon Hicks-Bartlett. |
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 Janis F. Kearney with Judge William O'Neal and Mamie Rodgers. |
 Janis F. Kearney with Chicago cousins Linda and Tyree Johnson. |
 Janis F. Kearney with literary advocate Brenda Sawyer. |
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Photographs courtesy of Howard Reed ©2007 |
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Family: A Six-letter Word Defines our World
The Kearney family recently celebrated our 37th Family Reunion in Arkansas. My father’s 101st Birthday, of course, was a huge part of that celebration. But, the dedication of my new grand-twins, Sanaa and Darryl, at Rankin Chapel Missionary Baptist Church (the very church I was baptized into), was an important second-tier to our celebration.
Family Reunions may have gotten their boost in the 70’s, with the premier of “Roots”, the television series; but family has always been an important part of our culture.
Family, like death, is one of those constants that none of us leaves this world without. Whether we recognize or honor our families doesn’t erase that fact…we are all connected to someone by birth and genes. And, when we get it right, family becomes the foundation of so much happiness, joy and successes in our lives. But, just as importantly…if we get it wrong, family experiences can precipitate a life of unhappiness, hopelessness and struggle.
But, what does family have to do with writing? Well, everything.
It’s not just what happens out in the world that writers use for story content; the family is always our first inspiration for stories. Every character, every back story, every situation within our stories, are based on someone’s sister, brother, mother or father. The characters’ successes, quirks, downhill battles, very often come out of what we know about family life. Take the mother-daughter tugs of wars; the father-son struggles; the wayward child; the parent who simply doesn’t know how to parent. Haven’t we all either read these stories in books, or watched them on the big screen?
The ultra-conservatives didn’t have to convince us of the importance of family. As a culture, most of us have always honored the sanctity of family, whether we adhered to man-made “rules,” or not. And, now, more than ever, we are celebrating the institution of family, and realizing its importance in our community. As a writer, and a member of a larger-than-usual family, I freely admit that my experiences as a member of that family have very often served as resources for my stories. And, the newest members of our family—my grand-twins Sanaa and Darryl—will surely be the inspiration for my future venture into children’s books!
Family means everything to me personally. But, on a grander scale, family dictates the strength or weakness of our culture and our community. We all have a responsibility to keep them as strong and as healthy as we can. And, from a selfish standpoint…as long as families continue to populate our world—both good ones, and not so good—we writers will have more than enough content and characters to populate our stories.