Currently on a ten percent off sale for the summer at a variety of locations, ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love, recently joined the line-up of books featured on the G.R.I.T.S. Online Reading Club for the month of July 2008.  

A showcase of award-winning art by Luther E. Vann, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Jepson Center in Savannah, Georgia, and writings by well-known author Aberjhani, ELEMENTAL has become one of the most acclaimed gift books on the market since its release in May.  The weekly newsmagazine Connect Savannah described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions… a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.” Art critic, author, and collector Ja A. Jahannes called it “A wondrously amazing book.” 

It’s odd to hear that question asked of me. Since fifth grade when I’d poured over the adventurous stories of Nancy Drew, Donna Parker and Trixie Belden, and I attempted my own words to paper, I had no inkling that one day my name would appear on a book’s cover.

Two years ago when I browsed inside a bookstore and inquired to the location for a writer’s handbook, the clerk asked, “Are you a writer?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. Though the title of “writer” deserved to be bestowed on a choice few, I was certain I wasn’t one of them. I’d had a few articles accepted to an ezine–unpaid–but I’d learned that didn’t qualify one to be called an official “writer.” But because I did write, I answered the question in the affirmative.

CTI News Room (Savannah, Georgia USA)– Acclaimed artist Luther E. Vann became the first Savannah-born African-American artist to have a one-man exhibit at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts when his show opened there April 16, 2008. On May 29, the Jepson Center will host “An Evening with Luther E. Vann and Friends,” an event open to the public from 6-7 p.m.

 

The more the fate of books in the world are called into question ––as they compete with the ever-increasing domination of techno gadgetry–– the stronger and more enduring their impact seems to become.  There is, apparently, no such thing as a permanent substitute for the written word adorned by human imagination and artfully bound in hard or soft covers.

This observation is particularly evident in April 2008 for three strong reasons. Number one: this is indeed National Poetry Month and celebrations of it are in full swing, complete with the first “Poem in Your Pocket Day” observed on April 17.