Kuma2.net Blog

Where y’all at and what have you been up to? Are you still writing? Have you published a book? What creative talents are you lending your hand to?

Anondra "Kat" Williams, D. Alexandra, and Syncere aka Alexander Supertramp - have written and published hot tales (and poems) of erotic passion.

Skye Ward, traveler extraordinaire, has just published a guide to traveling to/in Paris.

What about you?

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Starting September 20th, the Audre Lorde Film & Cultural Festival Tour will be making the rounds at several college campuses. From the University of Hawaii to Hunter College in NY, there will be several stops along the way. The full program includes several films and a reading:
The films:

• A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde by Ada Griffin and Michelle Parkinson
• The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde by Jennifer Abod
• Hope in My Heart: The May Ayim Story by Maria Binder
• Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 by Dagmar Schultz

The reading by Ika Hügel-Marshall from Invisible Woman: Growing Up Black in Germany

Here is a pdf with tour details (not all venues will have the full program): Fall 2012 USA Audre Lorde Film & Cultural Festival Tour

If you want to own a copy of Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years, it appears you can reserve one now by buying/donating. Once the educational dvd goes on sale, it’s not clear whether or not a retail version will be made available.

Skye, a wonderful contributor to Kuma in the past, is publishing a travel guide/journal: Skyeview A Sistah’s View of the World, Paris Chapter

You’ve read her travelogues and seen her photo album. Now, it’s time for you to experience Paris first-hand. To launch this new venture, there is going to be a fantastic gathering in Oakland. Here are the complete details:

When: Sunday August 12, 2012 2:00-5:00PM

What: Skyeview A Sistah’s View of the World, Paris Chapter
A Guidebook and Journal
Skyeview Traveler / Sistah Traveler Publications

Book launch celebration, reading and live performance.

Who: Skye Ward, Author
Liz Henrickson, Mistress of Ceremony
Paola Bacchetta, Opening Remarks
Anna Maria Flechero, Song Stylist and Jazz Vocalist
Lisa Cohen, Singer/Songwriter
Ouida Joi, Catering

Where: Joyce Gordon Gallery
406 -14 Street
Oakland, CA
RSVP: skyeviewtraveler@gmail.com

The favor of your RSVP is requested to help estimate catering and seating needs.

Photo credit: Bethanie Hines

LOVE the poet, and Cave Canem fellow, t’ai freedom ford headline intimate salon-styled poetry tour this week.

October 3, 2011– Black lesbian poets tour the east coast in a salon styled poetry tour October 6-15, 2011. In private homes in Washington, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, THE REVIVAL hosts a night of music, libation and poetry- in – concert. Touring troupe and special guests break the envelope of safe space for today’s queer and trans artists and allies while sharing the written word.

After a successful tour last year, THE REVIVAL adds new members to its roster and a new city! Cave Canem fellow, t’ai freedom ford joins the ranks alongside Washington acoustic duo, Solrose and Punany poet, Revival veteran, LOVE the poet.

“Last year’s tour was awesome, a really tremendous experience. It was really interactive—the audience was just as much a part of the stage as we were. It was a give and take process that allowed for something different to happen. I think lives were definitely changed,” says new author of Black Marks on White Paper, LOVE the poet.

With presenting sponsors, The Rainbow Collective, Poets & Writers, and The Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies, each night of the tour features food, music, and a local poet:

Thursday, October 6, 2011: Washington DC with Bettina Judd
Friday, October 7, 2011: Brooklyn, NY with R. Erica Doyle
Saturday, October 8, 2011: Philadelphia, PA with E. Kairo Miles
Friday, October 14, 2011: Chicago, IL with Patience Soprano

Promotional videos can be found here and here.

For addresses and tickets visit www.cereusarts.com/revival2011

About Cereus Arts: Cereus Arts is an arts initiative that promotes the visibility of queer women of color through media, literature and community events. For  press passes and interviews please contact cereusarts@gmail.com

“Why Do You Write/Read and How Do You Succeed?” Join panelists Cheril N. Clarke, Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene, John Keene, Tawanna Sullivan, and Rev. Kevin E. Taylor as they discuss what motivates them to produce work, and how the books they read and the lives they live inform their writing in terms of subject matter, style, form, target audience and other literary choices. These authors will also tackle the complex question of what “success” means to them as individuals, artists and educators in today’s literary and media marketplace and how they are striving to achieve that success. Moderated by Darnell Moore, and hosted by Fire & Ink!

Essex County College, Main Bldg. (entrance on MLK Blvd.), 4th level Multipurpose Room, 303 University Ave., downtown Newark, NJ 07102.

7 p.m. June 7, 2011; free!

Filmmaker Tiona McClodden and publisher Lisa C. Moore announce their collaboration for a feature-length documentary film, Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project. UBLEP will highlight interviews with black lesbian elders in their 60s, 70s and 80s from across the United States and situate them in a range of black historical movements, spanning the decades between the 1930s and 1980s.

Black Girl Love is a collection of (mostly) stories by Anondra “Kat” Williams.

These 32 pieces reveal love in all of its guises. Where there is love there is always an undercurrent of vulnerability, of danger. These characters take the risk of revealing themselves to each other; they hold up a mirror to our own fears, anxieties and passionate successes.

Nearly every week, as the host of Sippin On Ink, Anondra brings to the forefront the best the lgbt community has to offer. Black Girl Love fits firmly in that category.

Lesbian Couples: Love and Passion
Editor: Radclyffe
Publisher: Cleis Press
Deadline: September 15, 2011 (Publication Date: Fall/Winter 2012)
Payment: $50 and 2 contributor copies

Theme: Romance and passion among long-term lesbian couples

Banked fires burn hotter, and none flame as brightly as the passion that grows between women after the first flare of attraction subsides. We seek short fiction featuring lesbian couples who know how to keep the home fires alive with romance and passion. Surprise us with romantic, sexy tales of married-with-children pairs, golden anniversary celebrants, or modern adventurers who re-write the rules of partnering: date nights, spur of the moment getaways, trysts in the middle of the afternoon, surprises and secrets of keeping love and desire blazing after the wedding bells stop pealing. Erotic content and emotional/romantic elements should be given equal weight

Deadline for Submissions: September 15, 2011

Guidelines for Submissions
- Published or unpublished short stories or novel excerpts (Previously published material acceptable if published between Jan 1, 2011 & February 28, 2012)
- Word count: 5000 words or less
- Electronic submissions only to: radclyffe.bsb@gmail.com
- e-mail header: Couples_ AuthorName or Pseudonym _Title
- .rtf attachment (story)
- e-mail body: story title, author legal name, pseudonym if any, address, phone/fax, e-mail address, word count, if story previously published: anthology title/publisher/Pub date, 50 word bio

Story Format:
- Arial; 12 pt; .rtf
- double-spaced; number pages upper right; standard paragraphing; no HTML
- file name: AuthorName or Pseudonym_Title

General Info:
- You will receive email confirming submission receipt with 7 days
- Submission decisions will be provided by e-mail by Feb 2012
- Multiple submissions (no more than 2) accepted
- Payment: $50 and 2 contributor copies
- Please send questions to: radclyffe.bsb@gmail.com