Conjuring Black Funk by Herukhuti
Conjuring Black Funk: Notes on Culture, Sexuality and Spirituality, Vol. 1 is a fiery collection of essays, poetry, creative non-fiction, and experimental writing that challenges conventional thought, offers alternative perspectives, and suggests ways of practicing Afrocentric, queer liberation/transgression. This book is an important contribution to Black Queer Theory, Black Feminist Thought, and Afrocentric Thought.
“What a book! Hugely informative, often surprising, consistently thought-provoking and completely lacking in shame or pretense, it’s the kind of book you wish you’d written yourself but are very, very happy to have read.” - Robert Fullilove, EdD, Professor and Associate Dean, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
“I am engaged by the compelling insights of this feminist/womanist pomo afro homo on the intentional practice of sex, culture, and spirit. Whether you be bisexual, versatile, gay, top, trans, man, woman, str8, bottom, on the DL, or an old black dyke like me, you will want to get into Conjuring Black Funk.” - Cheryl Clarke, PhD, The Days of Good Looks: Prose and Poetry, 1980-2005
“Dr. Herukhuti uses ingredients to prepare a new recipe for the 21st century diet. If they hunger for something more than the typical fast food served as Black thought, it is a meal that Afrocentric beings will find very nurturing. His advocacy for the complete and total sexual freedom of consenting human beings has the taste of a new epistemology. He is a “gate-keeper” to a sacred banquet of sex, sin and Spirit that few are ready to acknowledge; let alone eat.”- Ron Simmons, PhD, President/CEO, Us Helping Us, Washington DC
***
Conjuring Black Funk is available in two covers, Trans and Female.
July 31, 2010
VEP @ The Harlem Book Fair 2010!
The Vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment, and community cooperation.
Join Vintage Entity Press and Herukhuti, Pamela Sneed, G. Winston James, and Steven G Fullwood for a day of sun and fun, and books, books, BOOKS!
Also, look for authors Pamela Sneed, Randall Horton, Zelda Lockhart and Steven G Fullwood @
"Bringing Our Sons and Their Memories Home: A discussion with contemporary writers on AIDS and the eradication of shame and silence through the love of witnessing."
Surrounding the loss of an undocumented number of African American men to the AIDS virus there is a pervasive silence that looms. Though some may believe this silence is to protect the African American identity, others believe this silence keeps African Americans in a sort of perpetual spiritual mourning, and at a perpetual disadvantage for healing from and defeating the disease.
The panel of writers will explore the following question and more: What are the trepidations for African Americans in giving voice to AIDS as a disease that affects their loved ones? In what ways has writing acted as a tool of exposure or a tool of cover-up around the AIDS virus in the African American population? What potentially exists beyond the moments of writing openly about the effects of AIDS on black people? Embolden by Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles’ quote, “A witness who will not tell the truth is of no consequence,” this conversation will seek to offer a platform for exploring AIDS, Healing, Homecomings and Closure for African Americans.
Sponsored by LaVenson Press.
July 16, 2010
VEP Authors Appearances in June!
Steven G Fullwood will moderate "Keep It in the Closet: The Historic Speculation Around MJ’s Gender Bending Persona," a panel at After the Dance: Conversations on Michael Jackson's Black America. The panel features Mark Anthony Neale, dj selly, Asadullah Muhammad, and Dj Reborn. The two-day conference starts Friday June 4th and Saturday June 5th, 2010 at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, NY, NY.
More information coming very soon!
May 24, 2010
VEP Writers Retreat Information!
WORDS TO LIVE BY: 2010 and BEYOND
Writers Retreat
May 21-23, 2010 @
The Oaks/New Dawn Foundation
New Rochelle, New York
Workshops, Networking, Open Mic, Readings, Book Selling, and Community
Words to Live By is an inclusive writers’ retreat, open to writers of all ethnicities, sexualities, and gender expressions. Our retreat and workshop culture will be guided by a commitment to social justice and ecological wellbeing. Any writer who can share in that commitment with us will be welcomed to register. Please... spread the word about the writers retreat throughout your networks with that in mind.
Invited Presenters:
G. Winston James
Cheryl Boyce-Taylor
Pamela Sneed
Curu Necos-Bloice
Herukhuti (Editing and Revising)
Steven G Fullwood (Creating a Manuscript Proposal)
April Silver (PR and Marketing)
Terence Taylor (Writing Workshop Workout)
Lenelle Moïse (Reading and Performing)
Anton Nimblett (Fiction)
Ellery Washington (Creative Non-Fiction)
REGISTRATION FEES*
$375 (Until 5/7/10)**
$231 (Until 5/7/10)**
**These are links to Paypal. PayPal's processing fee is $14.65
*These fees cover your cost of attendance at all events, retreat center accommodations, and meals. Travel not included.
There is no onsite registration.
Click here for the Registration Form.
****
Below is a sneak peek at our workshop schedule!
Writing Fiction with the Power of the Senses with Anton Nimblett
One of the biggest compliments a writer can receive is a reader saying that he or she felt as though she/he was a part of the story. Readers want to come away from a story with an experience. Moving past character and plot, this workshop will delve into the sensory world: using five senses as effectively as a painter's controlled brush strokes, a cinematographer's high-tech FX, a chef's blod spices, a musician's captivating melody, or even a boxer's 1-2 punch. Workshop facilitator Anton Nimblett will lead participants through interactive exercises to explore the sense-experience connection and writing exercises to create new work and enhance work in development.
Presenter Bio: Anton Nimblett is a writer who has contributed to Calabash, African Voices, and the anthology Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing From the Antilles. He is the author of the book of short stories Sections of an Orange (Peepal Tree Press).
Writing the Bones': The Art of Narrative Nonfiction with Ellery Washington
In this workshop we'll analyze work related to the memoir, the personal essay and other forms of creative nonfiction. What makes a personal experience or any other real-life situation worth writing about? How do personal and narrative essays differ from memoirs or even blogs? What elements of craft elevate these forms to the level of literary art? These are a few of the questions the workshop will address.
Presenter Bio: Ellery Washington is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Pratt University, New York, NY. He has a graduate degree in Contemporary French literature from the Sorbonne University, Paris, France, where was a lecturer in the graduate comparative literature department and a contributing editor to Nouvelle Frontiere literary journal. He is recipient of the PEN Center West – Rosenthal Emerging Voices Award and the IBWA prize for short fiction. His stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals and literary publications, including The New York Times, Ploughshares, The Berkeley Fiction Review, The International Review, Nouvelle Frontieres, Out Magazine, and the Harper Collins/Echo Press National Bestseller State by State, ‘A Panoramic Portrait of America’.
Writing Workshop Workout with Terence Taylor
You've honed your writing skills, mastered discipline, and you're writing regularly. Now that you've gotten your past pressure to perform and are finishing work, how do you improve your writing, make sure that you're communicating your ideas clearly? For many, it means finding other writers to share your work with, mirrors to let you see your work more clearly and objectively. How do you fit into an existing writing workshop, or form a group of your own with other writers to evaluate each other's work?
This three-hour workshop will be drawn from Terence Taylor's experiences with the writing workshop process, ending in a practical demonstration that critiques writing work submitted by workshop participants. He will present an overview of his own experiences with two styles of writing workshops, covering the advantages of workshops in improving one's work, their best use, the importance of strict guidelines, and their inherent dangers. The remaining time will be spent workshopping pre-submitted work. Participants will be required to send in writing they want to have evaluated in the workshop, to read all other submissions, and come in prepared to give constructive comment, with written notes to leave behind for each submitting member. Work can be in any area of discipline -- fiction, poetry, non-fiction -- but all pieces must be complete, no matter how rough, to allow a full critique of a finished work. It's especially important that all registrants take this portion of the workshop to heart, and come in with their homework done. Rule one in any writing workshop is that you can only get out of it what you put in. Exactly how notes will be presented and addressed will be explained in the first part of the workshop.
Presenter Bio: Terence Taylor is a former television writer turned novelist, and one of a handful of writers to be invited back for all three of the groundbreaking Dark Dreams short story anthologies of horror and suspense written exclusively by black writers. His first novel, BITE MARKS: A Vampire Testament (St, Martin's Griffin) came out in September 2009 and the second in the opening trilogy, BLOOD PRESSURE: A Vampire Testament (St, Martin's Griffin) just came out March 2010. He is a long time member of the recently revived bi-weekly Other Countries Writing Workshop, as well as a former board member, and a new member of the Tabular Rasa science fiction and fantasy writing workshop which works on the Clarion workshop model.
Essential Communications and Marketing with April Silver
The workshop includes a discussion of best practices for communicating to urban, progressive, multi-racial, culturally literate, and/or hip hop-oriented communities. They include industry findings, case studies, real life success stories, and how-to guides. They are rich with tips and tricks for how to augment your communications efforts via email marketing and social media networks. There is also an overview of the federal law that governs email marketing. These presentations examine the essence of traditional media, new media, as well as the tools one needs to succeed in communicating one’s message to the world regardless of trends.
Presenter Bio: April R. Silver is a social entrepreneur, activist, and writer/editor. In 1993, she founded and still heads AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. (AW), a communications agency. Silver is also a former TV talk show host (BETJ’s My Two Cents) and a published author of the anthology Be A Father to Your Child: Real Talk from Black Men on Family, Love, and Fatherhood (Soft Skull, 2008). In business, Silver communicates effectively in a variety of environments. AW’s client history reflects a diverse network ranging from hip hop artist/actor Mos Def to the second largest philanthropic organization in the country, The Ford Foundation. In 1997, she founded Put On BLAST! ™, an email marketing service that creates and manages online public awareness campaigns. Its popularity has helped Silver become a trusted voice on the topic of new media approaches for 21st century communication. In 2009, she was the keynote speaker for the Cool Twitter Conference in New York. Ms. Silver has also been featured, profiled, or quoted in Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Ebony, Jet, ESSENCE, Ms., NY1 News, CNN, and many other local, national, and international outlets. She is also a regular commentator on WBAI Radio’s weekly media roundtable on Wake Up Call. Once a month, she also hosts “Arts and Activism on the Air” on BlogTalkRadio.com. She is currently writing her second book about the art of communication.
****
FYI, sleeping space is limited at the retreat center. First registered first reserved policy is in operation on the rooms at the retreat center. There are overflow rooms available at a nearby hotel. Register soon to get a room on site.
March 19, 2010
VEP Writers Retreat: SAVE THE DATE!
SAVE THE DATE!
WORDS TO LIVE BY: 2010 and BEYOND
Vintage Entity Press Writers Retreat
May 21-23, 2010
@
The Oaks/New Dawn Foundation
New Rochelle, New York
http://www.theoaksndf.org/
Join us for
Workshops, Networking, Open Mic, Readings, Book Selling, and Community
Invited Presenters:
G. Winston James
Cheryl Boyce-Taylor
Pamela Sneed
Curu Necos-Bloice
Herukhuti (Editing and Revising)
Steven G. Fullwood (Creating a Manuscript Proposal)
April Silver (PR and Marketing)
Lamar Ariel (Self-Publishing)
Lenelle Moïse (Reading and Performing)
Anton Nimblett (Fiction)
Ellery Washington (Creative Non-Fiction)
And More!
Check back for more information about the retreat this week!
Contact Herukhuti, Associate Editor-at-Large, at heru@vepress.com or 917.403-0536.
March 15, 2010
VEP Authors Readings and Events in March
Dr. Herukhuti will be the MC for A Night of Soul featuring Nu Soul recording artist Donnie C and R&B recording artist Pharon on Friday March 19th, 8pm at Amarchi Lounge, 325 Franklin Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn NY.
Cheryl Boyce-Taylor will be reading from her new manuscript, Wild Sorrel on Friday March 5th at 6:30pm at the BENEFIT FOR HAITI for International Women's Day at the United Nations 42nd Street & 1st Avenue, in New York City. Cheryl will also be reading Friday, April 16th at 7pm at Caribbean Writers Speak! at Urban Word NYC, 27th Street and 8th Avenue, New York City. For more information email Cheryl at: moongirl650@aol.com
On Thursday March 11, 5:30pm, Steven G Fullwood will be participating in the “Collecting and Collectivities” panel at New York University, 20 Cooper Union Square, 4th Floor. Joining him will be Jacqueline Goldsby, Nikhil Pal Singh, Brent Hayes Edwards, and moderating the panel will be Elizabeth McHenry. Collecting and Collectivities is a part of a larger series, Discussing the Archive: Ideas, Practices, Institutions, a series of panels rethinking how archives are seen, utilized and created by archivists, and the academics and users that research them. All events are free and open to the public; ID required for entry into campus buildings. For more information about other panels in the series, here is a link to the site.
Steven will also participate on the “The Impact of Hip Hop and Popular Culture in the Literature of Black Writers,” joining writers Yvonne Bynoe, Felicia Pride and Toure, Saturday March 27th, 10-11:30am at the National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) at Medgar Evers College. Click here for more information about the NBWC.
February 24, 2010
2009 Was a Good Year
On behalf of the entire staff of Vintage Entity Press and its authors Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Steven G. Fullwood, Dr. Herukhuti, G. Winston James, Curu Necos-Bloice, and Pamela Sneed, and associate editors, we sincerely want to thank you for your support.
The press has seen a great deal of changes last year. We have a new website. We published Pamela Sneed’s latest work, KONG And Other Works, to critical acclaim. A new limited edition of Steven G Fullwood's first book, Funny, was released and interestingly enough, taught in a college course. VEP’s authors were busily reading and sharing their works across the United States as well as in other parts of the world, including Havana, Austria, and Berlin.
And there are personal triumphs to report as well.
February 17, 2010
For Your FUNNY Bone!
FUNNY Limited Edition Now Available - Hurry While Supplies Last!
Steven G. Fullwood isn’t afraid to let it all hang out - literally. Loosely described as ‘part memoir, part satire, & completely self-revelatory,’ FUNNY makes its mark in poignant, twisted ways. Fullwood is your best friend and guru, and that crazy guy who lives down the street, his pants around his ankles. Here is a writer who calls a dick a dick, and has no problem with holding a conversation with his own appendage. In 31 essays he parcels out the playful, perceptive persona he’s pimped for the last few years, most recently at his now defunct website, stevengfullwood.org. In the end, Fullwood wants you to laugh at yourself. Homos, heteros, and God (with whom he chats over lunch) - nothing escapes his wicked eye. But have no fear; this is a rant infused with love. This collection of essays reveals his obsessions: sex, religion, getting older, dating and homophobia. Neatly divided into three parts: ‘Us,’ ‘Them,’ and ‘Me,’ Fullwood demonstrates mastery for understatement about homo life, remarking that it has all the wonder of a doorknob.
Praise for FUNNY:
“[FUNNY] offers a much-needed voice...” Kheven LaGrone, Washington Blade
“The words trip off the page, delivered with a tongue-in-check and very critical wit.” Christopher James, Chroma Journal
“FUNNY is just that, funny as hell. It’s guaranteed to keep you entertained from beginning to end.” Damon Percy, Sapience Journal
****
September 13, 2009
Upcoming events for VE Press!
G. Winston James, Pamela Sneed and Herukhuti at Rainbow Book Fair. Photo by Troy Smith.
Saturday June 20, 10-11:30pm
Herukhuti @ 3rd Annual UrbanErotika Same Sex Love Fest
Bowery Poetry Cafe, 308 Bowery (between Bleecker and Houston)
Books will be available for purchase
Also: check out Heru's Black Funk!
Saturday July 18, 11-6pm.
VEP at The Harlem Book fair
135th Street between 5th and 7th Avenues
Join VE Press at the historic Harlem Book Fair. This year’s theme is “Reinventing 21st Century Culture.” QBR produces the Harlem Book Fair, the largest African American book Fair nationally, held annually in New York City. The Harlem Book Fair, which free to the public, features over 250 exhibit booths, four stages, celebrity authors, book selling, storytelling and a variety of musical entertainment. The program of activities includes an opportunity for attendees to be a part of the studio audience for the author panel discussions that take place at the Schomburg Center for Research and air live on C-Span’s Book TV. Join publisher Steven G. Fullwood and authors Herukhuti and G. Winston James for a day of specials and prizes throughout the sunny, literature-filled day! Make sure you come see us. We’d love to see you!
Wednesday, July 15 from 8-10p.m.
G. Winston James will be talking about his new book “Shaming the Devil” on the popular blog radio show
Sippin On Ink…The Colored Chronicles Radio Show
Dial in and talk to the author on air!
(646) 378-0402
Also remember to explore the archives with provocative SOI interviews with other VEP authors Pamela Sneed, Herukhuti and Steven G. Fullwood. Follow this link to those interviews!
If you are on Facebook, be sure to add Vintage Entity Press, Black Funk, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, G. Winston James, Curu Necos-Bloice, and Steven G. Fullwood as friends!
June 16, 2009
Rinaldo Walcott on Conjuring Black Funk
Conjuring Black Funk, a Review by Rinaldo Walcott
I came to this book with resistance, pleasure and suspicion. Each of those emotions and their accompanying politics informed how I experienced the book and the arguments made within it. I felt resistance, because I am almost avowedly reluctant to take much of what passes for spirituality in our time seriously as offering any real intellectual insight. I felt pleasure, because Samuel Delany both endorsed and wrote the Foreword to the book and for me Delany is an intellectual/artist beyond compare. His endorsement signaled that there would be much in the book worth grappling with. I felt suspicion, because I am hardwired to be suspicious of Afrocentric claims, especially those that come out of the USA which claim to speak to global forms of blackness but inevitably ground all their examples and the potential to solve black global oppression in US style political debates and solutions. I can say that Herukhuti assuaged most of my cautiousness with his work. Conjuring Black Funk is a work of intellectual bravery and a political call to arms.
May 09, 2009
Rainbow Book Fair and G. Winston James!
Vintage Entity Press will be at the Rainbow Book Fair hosted by The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on Saturday, March 28 2009, 11am – 6pm, 208 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011, between 7th and 8th Aves. VEP authors will be in attendance including Pamela Sneed (KONG and Other Works), Herukhuti (Conjuring Black Funk) and G. Winston James (The Damaged Good). All of VEP titles will be available for purchase, including Convincing the Body, by Cheryl Boyce-Taylor and Carry the Word edited by Lisa C. Moore and Steven G. Fullwood. So come check us out!
Speaking of G. Winston James, this man just founded Top Pen Press! His inaugural title, Shaming the Devil, is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. Absorbing, fascinating, written with piercing eye and unerring ear, Shaming the Devil delves mightily into the complexities of love, life and sex. You must buy one!
Check out Mr. James's company’s website where you can learn more about Shaming the Devil and his new publishing company.
Congratulations, G!
March 16, 2009
Cheryl on Writing Convincing the Body!
I cannot believe that it is almost four years since I wrote Convincing the Body.
Generally I write to document history, and to raise questions in the world, but mostly I write to make sense of my life and the world around me. Convincing the Body was no exception. When I wrote it, we were experiencing a severe bout of global warming. There was 911, then the terrible Tsunami that took so many lives, there was the war in Iraq, the bombing in Fallujah, that killed and maimed innocent children, and the Israeli conflict to name a few things. On the home front, I was breaking up with my partner of nine years, my son was facing a kidney transplant, my mother was entering her years of senility… Only writing could save me.
I had to convince my body that my life was amazing and beautiful, that good was everywhere. If only we could take the time to dig deep inside, we could find the magic we once had, and surely this would see us through.
On the cover of the book is a Slippery Elm Tree. The photograph was taken in Tobago at the ocean. The tree is fully alive, but because of the saltwater breezes it has lost its leaves. This reminded me of the human spirit, sometimes we lose our leaves, but we must never allow that to keep us off our intended path for too long. Cry, mourn, reflect, and get back on the road.
March 11, 2009
Welcome to VEP's smashing new website!
Welcome to the newly improved Vintage Entity Press website! As you can see we have changed our look—thanks to web designers Dariusz and Kamil—and have included sections with up-to-date information about our authors, books, a newsletter, consultations and a resource page. Additionally, VEP will offer specials on our products, which is a great opportunity to stock up on your VEP titles!
I also want to take this opportunity to welcome three new extraordinary authors to the press, Pamela Sneed, Raymond Berry, and Curu Necos-Bloice.
Pamela is a poet, performer, writer and actress based in New York City. She is the author of Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery, published by Henry Holt (1998.) Sneed has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Source, Time Out, VIBE, Karl Lagerfeld's "Off The Record," and on the cover of New York Magazine. You can purchase a limited edition of her new book KONG & Other Works for $21.99 (includes postage and handling.) The official version will be available mid-March.
Raymond is a native Chicagoan and received an MFA in creative writing from Chicago State University. His publication credits include the anthology To Be Left with the Body by AIDS Project Los Angeles (2008) and the literary journal Warpland: A Journal of Black Literature and Ideas. He currently lectures at the City Colleges of Chicago. His first book of poems, Diagnosis, examines the individual and collective silence that is critical in HIV/AIDS infection among gay men of African ancestry. Diagnosis continues a tradition of resistance, transformation, and transcendence. Diagnosis will be published June 2009.
January 18, 2009
