tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post6024780533682834897..comments2024-02-08T05:04:18.484-08:00Comments on J'S THEATER: Lit Reading Rising + Robinson at Inauguration + Burris-Franken + Weekend American CanceledJohn Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-65570892921311516452009-01-19T16:13:00.000-08:002009-01-19T16:13:00.000-08:00Audiologo, I hadn't really thought of the cell pho...Audiologo, I hadn't really thought of the cell phone novel craze in relation to the urban lit phenomenon, but it's a potent association. You're so right about the continuing anxiety that surrounds it. Do you think urban cell phone novel/poetry would get any attention until it attracted some higher profile or non-POC authors? LOL I was sorry to hear about Chideya's show being canceled, though I'm not such a fan of hers. I think she can be too facile at times, but I do think she and the show shouldn't have been on the cutting block first. You're so right about the NEA gutting/cutting....John Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-56548382259828573662009-01-13T12:49:00.000-08:002009-01-13T12:49:00.000-08:00John, I don't buy the pretty-fied Robinson sto...John, I don't buy the pretty-fied Robinson story either, and I agree with you that this was a lost opportunity to have an eloquent QOC religious leader address the nation as well as the difficulty some folks have with imagining a POC can be both queer and POC. Don't even get me started on that ridiculous Advocate cover, or the African American voting on Prop. 8. <BR/><BR/>The Japanese cell-phone literature craze is fascinating, and sounds similar to the "urban lit" phenomenon here in the US including the troubled and sometimes disdainful response from the literary establishment. Except here in the US it's not almost exclusively female terrain, and the situation is complicated by African American authors not being a part of the literary establishment in substantive numbers, but the fear of the ascendant popularity of this popular form obscuring the work of writers working in recognized literary forms seems parallel. Personally, I can hardly send simple txt messages, I can't imagine writing a 300 page novel in that format! I didn't know about Desiree Cooper's work on Weekend America, and now after listening to a few shows I'm kinda peeved, with this cancellation and that of NPRs News & Notes with Farai Chideya. Maybe it's short-sighted on my part, since Weekend America doesn't just focus on people of color, but this reminds me of the mid-90s when the NEA was gutted and the first programming and personnel terminations also reduced the representation of people of color, both also had been the last to be implemented/hired (i.e.:"last hired, first fired").audiologohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06599965770258902030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-60620968697946417492009-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:002009-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00I'm not buying the Robinson tale, no matter how pr...I'm not buying the Robinson tale, no matter how prettily they wrap it. In terms of the Book Expo, I am also curious about how that's going to turn out. I've never been to one, so is it too late to register? Do I need to have a book for sale? Let me get (back) to writing! ;-)John Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-26125377116709262232009-01-12T14:36:00.000-08:002009-01-12T14:36:00.000-08:00I was discussing the state of the publishing busin...I was discussing the state of the publishing business with Redbone's Lisa Moore this weekend, and we were wondering who was going to be at Book Expo in NYC this May/June -- I doubt they'll cancel but its not going to be the catered reception and free galley-passing love fest of recent years.<BR/><BR/>PS: Just like The X Files' Fox Mulder, 'I want to believe' that Gene Robinson was chosen BEFORE Warren -- but why are we just hearing about this now? And shouldn't The Bishop be doing the Inaugural, not a 'Pastor'? Sigh....Reginald Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318624469970165605noreply@blogger.com