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• Jabari Asim
• Steven Barnes
• Tonya Bolden
• Michele Andrea Bowen
• William Jelani Cobb
• Michael Datcher
• Virginia Deberry
• Donna Grant
• Phyllis Y. Harris
• Mat Johnson
• Kim McLarin
• More Authors...
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Black History Month Author Roundtable
African-American writing is more than a genre for these twenty-two writers and illustrators. For Jabari Asim, Steven Barnes, Tonya Bolden, Michele Andrea Bowen, William Jelani Cobb, Michael Datcher, Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, Phyllis Y. Harris, Mat Johnson, Kim McLarin, Marissa Monteilh, Monique Morris, Alexs D. Pate, Kayla Perrin, Myles and Sandra Pinkney, Francis Ray, Maryann Reid, Afi Scruggs, Natasha Tarpley and Raymond A. Winbush, their work carries a bigger mantle as they are representatives of a culture and, whether they choose to be, or not, role models to a younger generation of writers and readers. Here they speak out on their experiences as published authors, share advice with aspiring writers, and relate how being African-American impacts their work.
Note: Part two of this feature will be live on Friday, February 22nd.
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| Jabari Asim |
Jabari Asim is a poet, critic, and playwright who works as a senior editor at the Washington
Post Book World. His work appeared most recently in Step Into a World: A Global
Anthology of New Black Literature, The Salon Reader’s Guide to Contemporary
Literature, and Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction. He is also the
author of A Road to Freedom, a novel for young adults. He lives outside of
Washington D.C., with his wife and children.
Not Guilty Excerpt
Browse Jabari Asim's books on Amazon.com.
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| Steven Barnes |
Steven Barnes, the author of fifteen novels and as many teleplays, has been nominated for both the Hugo and Cable Ace awards. Mr. Barnes lives in Washington with his wife, author Tananarive Due, and his daughter.
Steven Barnes' Website
Browse Steven Barnes' books on Amazon.com.
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| Tonya Bolden |
Tonya Bolden is the author of the children's book Through Loona's Door: A Tammy and
Owen Adventure with Carte G. Woodson. Her books for teenagers include the novels Mama,
I Want to Sing (co-authored with Vy Higginsen) and Just Family; the anthology Rites
of Passage: Stories About Growing Up by Black Writers from Around the World; and a
collection of biographies of ten epic women, And Not Afraid to Dare. Her books for
grownups include The Book of African American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and
Uplifters . She is a native New Yorker.
Tonya Bolden's Website
Browse Tonya Bolden's books on Amazon.com.
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| Michele Andrea Bowen |
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| William Jelani Cobb |
William Jelani Cobb received his doctorate in American history from Rutgers University. He contributes regularly to the Washington Post and Africana.com.
Browse William Jelani Cobb's books on Amazon.com.
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| Michael Datcher |
Michael Datcher is a poet and critically acclaimed journalist who has written for the Los
Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Baltimore Sun, and has
appeared as a guest analyst on numerous television and radio shows, including
"Nightline" and "Dateline". He lives in Los Angeles, where he is the
director of literary programs at the World Stage Writers' Workshop.
Raising Fences -- Coming March 5th
Browse Michael Datcher's books on Amazon.com.
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| Virginia Deberry |
After almost ten years
as a high school English teacher in Buffalo, New York, a friend who worked at a New York
modeling agency convinced her to move downstairs and try her hand at plus-size modeling.
The results was a career during which she was featured in catalogs, ads, Essence
magazine, and appeared on "The Today Show". It also led to meeting best friend
and writing partner, Donna Grant.
Virginia attended Fisk University and is a graduate of the State University of New York at
Buffalo. She currently resides in central New Jersey.
Although Virginia was a successful model, after two years she switched to the other side
of the business and worked as an agent. She later became Vice President of BB/LW, an
agency in New York that represented full figured and petite models, a spokeswoman for
Hanes hosiery and fashion editor of Great Dimensions newsletter. It was at the newsletter
that she and Donna, who was celebrity focus editor, first worked together. Virginia and
Donna became cofounders of Maxima, a magazine for plus size women. Virginia was
Editor in Chief, Donna was managing editor.
Virginia Deberry's Website
Browse Virginia Deberry's books on Amazon.com.
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| Donna Grant |
Prior to writing Tryin'
to Sleep in the Bed You Made, Donna spent more than a decade as a large-size
model, represented by the 12+ division of Ford Models. It was a career she was literally
dared into by co-workers at the New York Daily News. "I said they were crazy, but we
bet lunch on it and I went to the agency open call. Within two weeks I had my first
bookings, so I bought lunch." During her career, Donna was featured in catalogs and
national ads, on the pages of Essence, McCalls, Family Circle,
and Woman's Day. She also made appearances on the "Today", "Good
Morning America", and "Live with Regis and Kathy Lee".
Donna is a Brooklyn native who still resides in the borough along with her husband. She
attended Barnard College and is a graduate of New York University.
As models vying for the same assignments, Donna and Virginia defied the odds and became
best friends instead of enemies. "We weren't supposed to, but we liked each other
right away. We knew the client made the client made the final decision, It had nothing to
do with us as individuals."
While working on Maxima, Donna and Virginia realized that they had forged an
extraordinary intuitive working relationship that was also big fun. When publication of
Maxima ceased, "Virginia and I realized we had to keep working together and as crazy
as it sounds, we decided to try writing a novel. It was something something we each wanted
to do seperately anyway. People often ask us how we can write fiction together. We don't
know how or why it works. It just does."
Donna Grant's Website
Browse Donna Grant's books on Amazon.com.
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| Phyllis Y. Harris |
Phyllis Y. Harris has spent her professional career committed to improving healthcare
access and social conditions for children and families. She began her care as a Dyson Fellow with the Children’s Defense Fund
in Washington, D.C., where she worked alongside Marian Wright Edelman on Capital Hill to
bring about legislative reform on key maternal and child health issues. After completing the Dyson fellowship, Phyllis
came to New York to work for Citizens Committee for Children, which was founded by Eleanor
Roosevelt. There she worked with state and
local public officials, and New York City private citizens to improve healthcare access
and public health outcomes related to conditions of poverty for children and families in
low-income communities. Phyllis has
been a featured public speaker and lecturer at national and international meetings, forum
and panel discussions. She has numerous
publications to her credit. Ms. Harris was
educated at Yale University, the University of Paris and East Carolina University. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in
psychology and English literature (BA), public health (MPH) and Neuropsychology (Diplôme
Étude Approfondis). Currently, Ms. Harris
is a full-time writer living in New York. From The Soul:
Stories of Great Black Parents and the Lives they Gave Us is her first book.
Phyllis Y. Harris' Website
Browse Phyllis Y. Harris' books on Amazon.com.
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| Mat Johnson |
Mat Johnson was born in Philadelphia in 1970 to an Irish American man and an African American woman. Five years after his parents’ divorce, he was living with his social-worker mother in the predominantly black, working class Philly neighborhood of Germantown.
Mat worked as a copywriter for MTV networks, an experience that accounts for the realism of the advertising world portrayed in Drop. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughter.
More about Mat Johnson
Browse Mat Johnson's books on Amazon.com.
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| Kim McLarin |
Kim McLarin is a writer and former journalist for the New York Times, Philadelphia
Inquirer, and the Associated Press. The author of the highly acclaimed novel Taming
It Down, she has published her short fiction in Obsidian 11: Black Literature in
Rerun; WV, and Confrontation. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts, with
her husband and their family.
Browse Kim McLarin's books on Amazon.com.
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