Book Launch Celebration for Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota

Edited by Alexs Pate with co-editors Pamela R. Fletcher and J. Otis Powell Thursday, February 5, 2015 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Minnesota History Center 345 Kellogg Blvd W., St. Paul MN 55102 6:00 p.m. Doors open, refreshments & cash bar 7:00 p.m. Book Talk and Presentation 8:00 p.m. Book Signing Event is free and open to the public. Share the Facebook invitation. Blues Vision is a groundbreaking collection of incisive prose and powerful poetry by forty-three black writers who educate, inspire, and reveal the unabashed truth. The book is co-published by the Minnesota Historical Society and Minnesota Humanities Center, sponsor of this anthology, which was made possible in part by the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2004. Showcasing the unique vision and reality of Minnesota’s African American community from the Harlem renaissance through the civil rights movement, from the black power movement to the era of hip- hop and the time of America’s first black president, this compelling anthology provides an explosion of artistic expression about what it means to be a Minnesotan. Advance Praise: “How do you establish your voice in a place where the response to Black life can be as cold and unforgiving as the snow? Alexs Pate and his coeditors answer that question with powerful documentation of the literary life of black Minnesotans—native and transplanted—who have flourished in this lush, bountiful state that celebrates its liberal public identity but often forgets to uphold those principles for people of color.” Robyne Robinson, Arts & Culture Director, MSP International Airport “Blues Vision captures the rich history of African Americans living in Minnesota, with each writer sharing an honest perspective on what it means to be Black here. The stories may seem to rhyme, but their diversity defines what’s best about our great state.” Congressman Keith Ellison “Blues Vision, a conscientiously edited gathering of remarkably high caliber, is an aesthetically formidable and conceptually energetic new regional anthology “predicated on the intersection of race and geography in creative literary expression.” This unprecedented collection will help us rethink regionalism as a literary form and as cultural critique—and make us reconceive the meaning of ‘Minnesota,’ as well.” John Wright, Morse-Amoco Distinguished Teaching Professor of African American & African Studies and English, Founding Scholar, Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature and Life, University of Minnesota About the Editors: Alexs Pate, an award- winning novelist, playwright, and writing professor, is the president of Innocent Technologies, LLC. Pamela R. Fletcher is associate professor of English at St. Catherine University. J. Otis Powell‽ is a poet, performance artist, and curator working in an aesthetic rooted in Afrocentric lore and culture. Contributors include: David Adedjouma, Louis Alemayehu, E.G. Bailey, Conrad Balfour, Lloyd Brown, Philip Bryant, Shá Cage, Laurie Carlos, Gabrielle Civil, Taiyon Coleman, Kyra Crawford-Calvert, Mary Moore Easter, Evelyn Fairbanks, Pamela R. Fletcher, Shannon Gibney, Taylor Gordon, David Grant, Craig Green, Libby Green, David Haynes, Kofi Bobby Hickman, Kim Hines, Carolyn Holbrook, Steven Holbrook, Kemet Imhotep, Andrea Jenkins, Nellie Stone Johnson, Tish Jones, Etheridge Knight, Arleta Little, Roy McBride, Gordon Parks, Alexs Pate, G.E. Patterson, Anthony Peyton Porter, Louis Porter II, J. Otis Powell‽, Rohan Preston, Ralph Remington, Angela Shannon, Susan J. Smith-Grier, Clarence White, and Frank B. Wilderson III. We are honored to publish this important book with the Minnesota Humanities Center and hope you can join us to celebrate the contributors and their vision!