“Blackness was rippling across the auditorium, turning the air—and I felt it then, Sunni’s voice igniting the star-white text with a vitality that began but would not end in that room.”
Category: Events
The power of self-publishing
Categories
In Memoriam: Bernard Pearce
We remember the brilliant Bernard Pearce. May he rest in power.
In celebration of literary talent
Categories
When Poetry Comes to Life
Honoring three I AM NEW ORLEANS poets, along with the inciting work of Marcus B. Christian, to kick off National Poetry Month
You’d expect planning an academic conference to be a lot of work. Four years of work, however? Less likely.
2700 YEARS YOUNG
Categories
Channeling
By Chelsey Shannon, editor After months of staying away from UNO’s campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I recently had the opportunity to do an on-campus shoot for the Press’s upcoming virtual event, “What Langston Did.” We engaged videographer Weenta Girmay to capture an in-person (outdoor, socially distanced) interview between myself and Kalamu ya Salaam. […]
“The old folks used to say, when you enter a room, speak to the people who are already there…” – Kalamu ya Salaam, Cosmic Deputy: Poetry & Context, 1968-2019 By Chelsey Shannon, editor Whenever his name comes up, Kalamu ya Salaam regularly claims Langston Hughes as his patron saint of writing. From a young age, […]
Categories
South to Northwest
UNO Press at PEN Oakland 2019 By Chelsey Shannon, editor Many attending the “Blue Collar PEN” ceremony back in December expressed surprise at my coming all the way from New Orleans to collect Kalamu ya Salaam’s award—as if the Bay Area was a cozy hamlet my cosmopolitan self had only deigned to visit. But in […]
Books Worth the Trees They're Printed On 