Help Georgia Speaks, Inc. Improve Youth Literacy Rates

Help Georgia Speaks, Inc. improve literacy rates for underprivileged school-aged youth in Georgia. The organization is in need of new or gently used books for children grade levels k-12. Hardcover books, paperbacks, story books, study workbooks, Sci-fi, fiction and non-fiction genres. Email: info@gaspeaks.org for drop-off and pick-up locations or contact their community relations coordinator at 678-404-1665!

Enrich a life, give a book!

Georgia Speaks, Inc.’s mission is to improve the social, emotional and physical well being of youth so that they may grow to live healthy and productive lives.

Georgia S.P.E.A.K.S defined as Skilled Professional Educators for the Advancement and Knowledge of Self is a 501(c)3 non-profit, community-based behavioral health and social development organization committed to the cultivation and support of its local constituents. Georgia S.P.E.A.K.S is driven on the organization’s capacity to build a foundation that concentrates on the development of individuals that will acquire the skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in today’s society. The focus of the organization is to provide a therapeutic environment for social skills training and community support services for individuals in need of behavioral health and/or developmental disability services, in addition to their families.

For more information, please visit www.gaspeaks.org

Celebrate Zora Neale Hurston

Born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, writer Zora Neale Hurston created several acclaimed works of fiction, including the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was also an outstanding folklorist and anthropologist who worked to record the stories and tales of many cultures, including her own African-American heritage.

Hurston was the daughter of two former slaves. Her father, John Hurston, was a pastor, and he moved the family to Florida when Hurston was very young. Following the death of her mother, Lucy Ann (Potts) Hurston, in 1904, and her father’s subsequent remarriage, Hurston lived with an assortment of family members for the next few years.

To support herself and finance her efforts to get an education, Hurston worked a variety of jobs, including as a maid for an actress in a touring Gilbert and Sullivan group. In 1920, Hurston earned an associate degree from Howard University. She published one of her earliest works in the university’s newspaper. A few years later, she moved to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, where she became a fixture in the area’s thriving art scene.

Living in Harlem in the 1920s, Hurston befriended the likes of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, among several others. Her apartment, according to some accounts, was a popular spot for social gatherings. Around this time, Hurston experienced a few early literary successes, including placing in short-story and playwriting contests in Opportunity magazine.

Hurston also had serious academic interests. She landed a scholarship to Barnard College, where she pursued the subject of anthropology and studied with Franz Boas. In 1927, Hurston returned to Florida to collect African-American folk tales. She would later publish a collection of these stories, entitled Mules and Men (1935). Hurston also contributed articles to magazines, including the Journal of American Folklore.

Also in the mid-1930s, Hurston explored the fine arts through a number of different projects. She worked with Langston Hughes on a play called Mule-Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life—disputes over the work would eventually lead to a falling out between the two writers—and wrote several other plays, including The Great Day and From Sun to Sun.

Hurston released her first novel, Jonah’s Gourd Vine, in 1934. Two years later, she received a Guggenheim fellowship, which allowed her to work on what would become her most famous work: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). She wrote the novel while traveling in Haiti, where she also studied local voodoo practices.

That same year, Hurston spent time in Jamaica conducting anthropological research.

In 1942, Hurston published her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road. This personal work was well-received by critics, but her life and career soon began to falter. Hurston was charged with molesting a 10-year-old boy in 1948; despite being able to prove that she was out of the country at the time of the incident, she suffered greatly from this false accusation.

Zora Neale Hurston Legacy

Despite all of her accomplishments, Hurston struggled financially and personally during her final decade. She kept writing, but she had difficulty getting her work published. Additionally, she experienced some backlash for her criticism of the 1955 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which called for the end of school segregation.

A few years later, Hurston had suffered several strokes and was living in the St. Lucie County Welfare Home. The once-famous writer and folklorist died poor and alone on January 28, 1960, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Pierce, Florida.

More than a decade later, another great talent helped to revive interest in Hurston and her work: Alice Walker wrote about Hurston in the essay “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston,” published in Ms. magazine in 1975. Walker’s essay helped introduce Hurston to a new generation of readers, and encouraged publishers to print new editions of Hurston’s long-out-of-print novels and other writings. In addition to Walker, Hurston heavily influenced Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison, among other writers.

More information on the life, and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston is available at, www.zoranealehurston.com.

Source (s):  Biography

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone entered the new year in a wonderful way. May 2014 be your best year yet!

Bizzy B Presents Networking/Kickback

 You Can Never Get Enough of Vitamin D!

       Bizzy B Presents “Networking/Kickback”

Special performance by poet/author Devonte “Vitamin D” Evans.

When: August 1, 2013.

Where: Sweet Tooth’s Dessert Bar, 335 Nelson St. Atlanta, GA 30313

Time: 7:00 p.m

Music By DJ G Syde!

Free wine!

A Reader’s World Merchandise Shop

Thanks to literary consultant and book promoter, Yolanda Gore, we were introduced to a cool website for avid readers- -a site that has unique merchandise and gifts for readers and aspiring writers.

We absolutely love this site.

Please visit A Reader’s World and shop for t-shirts, sleep wear, drinkware, art, home decor’ and more.

Poetic Refill by Devonte’ “Vitamin D” Evans

Karii Literary Entertainment Presents, A Source of Vitamin D, A Poetic Refill by author/poet Devonte’ “Vitamin D” Evans.

Coming Soon!

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Happy Inauguration Day!

Today the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as President Barack Obama is inaugurated.

 

Happy New Year from Ka’rii Literary Entertainment!

As the year 2012 comes to an end, KLE would like to send thanks to all of the readers who have supported our blog and literary works in 2012. We would also like to send a special thank you to the authors and publishers who shared their titles with our readers.

2012 was an incredible year and we are eagerly anticipating 2013!

In 2013, please be on the lookout for new KLE releases from, poet/author Ahavah Maure’ & Devonte “Vitamin D” Evans, as well as novelist Mutima Jackson-Anderson.

Again, thanks for your support. We hope to see you around the literary world in 2013!

Happy New Year we wish you a year filled with lots of love and success!

Literary Event: 2013 The Digital Book World Conference + Expo

Opportunity. Innovation. Success.

[From Digital Book World]The Digital Book World Conference + Expo is the most important conference for digital publishing and digital publishing strategies. It brings together over 1,000 publishing professionals focused on developing, building and transforming their organization to compete in the new digital publishing environment.

When you attend the Digital Book World Conference & Expo you will learn:

• How to create an operational infrastructure that quickly and effectively supports the growth and development of a digital publishing business.
• How to use new distribution channels to increase your customer base and grow sales.
• How to identify new trends in consumer behavior that encourage new product development and international growth.
• How to partner with authors to increase their profile and improve the discoverability of their content.
• How to incorporate into your business successful strategies from leading publishers in digital publishing.
• How to staff to ensure a nimble, skilled workforce that will help you operate your publishing business more efficiently and successfully.
• How to find innovative new technology solutions that will help you increase your speed to market with digital products.
• And much, much more…

When: January 15, 2013 – January 17, 2013

Location: The Hilton New York Hotel

For registration and complete conference and expo details, please click here.

Recommended Read: Hated by Many, Loved by None by Shan

Jahzara, Honey and Tomeka are best friends til the end. The three of them would die for each other and have always had each other’s back. They each desperately wanted better lives and were willing to work extra hard in order to attain it.

Relationship issues in their personal lives bring the girls closer together than ever before- especially when Jahzara brings a business proposal to the table.

Betrayal, lies, jealousy and murder is only the beginning of what they have to overcome. Will they succumb to it all or will they rise above it and find their way out?

Kindle Edition Available Now