Content Warning: This installment is collaborative, and it should not be construed that either author represents, shares, or supports Communist and/or Marxist views or activities.
Hi Friends:
Because writer’s block is the non-combative willingness to invalidate creativity, this issue includes:
A sip…
The muse contends that Invisible Gin exceeds unmatched point value...
A shout out…
If theories of conscious experience validate approximations, composer, editor, essayist, lecturer/scholar, literary critic, musician, novelist, sculptor, and photographer, Ralph Ellison, would likely have contended that truth will forever conflict with perceived fitness.
Disillusioned by imposed class consciousness while studying at what was then Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (Tuskegee University), he left without matriculating, relocated to Harlem, and forged a friendship with Langston Hughes.
An associate of many Harlem Renaissance Artists, and an affiliate of the Communist Party who later replaced its ideology with social reformism, he is best known for penning the National Book Award for Fiction (1953) winner, Invisible Man, the skillful exploration of the variances in geographical racism, and with crafting an articulate, educated, self-aware, dispassionate Black male protagonist -a first amongst his peers.
A self-proclaimed perfectionist and the first Black man admitted into the Century Association, he was a multi-faceted creative, and strong proponent of literature as a moral instrument. An avid reader of the modernist classics, dapper dresser, and audio-technology enthusiast, it is suggested that his identification with tortured anti-heroes and approach to the written form mocks the deftness of electronics.
Strongly awarded by varying distinguished bodies including, two Presidents of the United States (Presidential Medal of Honor, 1969; National Medal of Arts, 1985), the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier, 1970), the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1975), and New York College (Hughes Medal, 1985), he was also the recipient of more than twelve honorary doctorate degrees and has been prominently featured as part of the US Postage Service Literary Arts Series (2014).
A sentence…
Prompts gleaned from Invisible Man:
“[T]o be unaware of one’s form is to live a death.”
“Perhaps to lose a sense of where you are implies the danger of losing a sense of who you are.”
“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself wished to do.”
“The lobby was the meeting place for various groups still caught up in the illusions that had just been boomeranged out of my head . . . the younger crowd for whom I now felt a contempt such as only a disillusioned dreamer feels for those still unaware that they dream.”
“I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even as just now I’ve tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was satisfied—not even I. On the other hand, I've never been more loved and appreciated than when I tried to ‘justify’ and affirm someone’s mistaken beliefs; or when I've tried to give my friends the incorrect, absurd answers they wished to hear. In my presence they could talk and agree with themselves, the world was nailed down, and they loved it. They received a feeling of security. But here was the rub: Too often, in order to justify them, I had to take myself by the throat and choke myself until my eyes bulged and my tongue hung out and wagged like the door of an empty house in a high wind. Oh, yes, it made them happy and it made me sick. So I became ill of affirmation, of saying ‘yes’ against the nay-saying of my stomach—not to mention my brain.”
A few useful tips…
On writing believable Black male characters:
Contemporary, sympathetic Black males do not use the n-word.
Contemporary, sympathetic Black males do not disparage Black women.
Contemporary Black males may have a dedicated religious/spiritual practice.
Black males have the same psychological and moral complexity as men have by default.
As a rule, men are not subservient -Black males should not be portrayed as happily subservient.
The Black Diaspora is global, and it is not unusual to encounter Black males outside of urban settings.
Resist the urge to portray Black males as uneducated or with other less desirable and nefarious characteristics.
It is not uncommon for heterosexual Black males to have long-standing non-romantic friendships with LGBTQ+ individuals.
A few contests/competitions…
Autumn House 2024 Non-Fiction Prize
The Letter Review Prize for Non-Fiction
Vanderbilt University Literary Prize
A grant opportunity…
A few freelance opportunities…
Business Insiders accepts one-off posts from outside contributors that fit in seamlessly with the areas it covers.
Thrillist is looking for pitches from writers, photographers, videographers, and contributors of all backgrounds.
A few submission opportunities…
The Champagne Room is accepting submissions of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Ink & Marrow is accepting micro-poetry.
The Food Section is seeking submissions that provide info and analysis of the food and appreciation of the American South.
Oregon Humanities is looking for stories about things that happen and are experienced in public individually and collectively.
Waxwing is accepting long-form fiction.
A few sessions & workshops…
April 3rd
April 4th
April 5th
April 6th
April 7th
Ongoing
A few virtual book clubs…
Goal with Girlfriends Book Club
Virtual Graphic Novel Book Club
And a final thought…
This installment is collaborative; because all creatives self-consciously create a better version of their innate beliefs,
suggested the author and writing prompts, and to ensure that you never miss his unique explorations on human conditions, subscribe to:It also contains an affiliate link; I earn a commission when you purchase books using that link, or you may please buy me a coffee.
Thanks for reading,
My brother mentioned the same thing this morning; its a classic.
Like Mayor Pete today saying it is safe in DC than ever before because 'I can safely walk my dog to the Capitol' despite having a private security detail armed to the teeth. LOL