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Photo Credit Lynda
Koolish
Kalamu
ya Salaam is the founder of NOMMO Literary Society. NOMMO
is a New Orleans-based creative writing workshop whose members are
published in national anthologies such as Dark Eros, Kente Cloth, Catch the
Fire, and 360° A Revolution of
Black Poets. He is also a founder of
Runagate
Press, which focuses on New Orleans and African-heritage cultures worldwide.
Salaam is the leader of the WordBand, a poetry
performance ensemble that combines poetry with blues, jazz and other forms of
music. Salaam's work includes the spoken word CD "My Story,
My Song" (AFO Records) and his latest book "What Is
Life?" (Third
World Press).
Born March 24, 1947, Salaam's awards include
national and regional awards for poetry, play writing, literary criticism,
cultural criticism, and radio production. Salaam has served on numerous
panels and boards, including NEA Literature panels. He has read his poetry
and lectured at universities, community programs and institutions worldwide.
Salaam is
also moderator of CyberDrum, a listserv of Black writers and diverse supporters
of literature. To join CyberDrum or contact Kalamu, email him at
kalamu@aol.com
Magic of Juju: An
Appreciation of the Black Arts Movement
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Amazon
Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Third World Press; 2 edition (January 30, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883781964
ISBN-13: 978-0883781968
A contextual historical examination of the civil
rights movement and the artists who inspired it, this
recollection depicts this storied era and how these artists
signified the affecting change they helped create. The
exploration details the development of the
Black Arts Movement—from precursor activities such as the
Umbra Workshop to transitional activities such as
Ntozake Shange's choreopoem "for colored girls who
considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf"—and gives in-depth
information about the role of prominent poets, such as
Amiri Baraka,
and the influence of black music.
What Is Life?: Reclaiming the Black Blues Self
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ISBN: 0883780836
Pub. Date: May 1994
Format: Paperback, 229pp
Publisher: Third World Press
In What Is Life: Reclaiming the Black Blues Self, Kalamu ya
Salaam -- poet, activist, cultural worker and contributor to the
best-selling Black Erotica -- takes us on an introspective
journey in search of the answers that African Americans struggle
to obtain. His reflections capture our movement and complacency,
involvement and noninvolvement from the mid-sixties to the
present. Salaam insists, "The central issue of What Is Life? is
to focus on the difficult and contradictory, to grapple with the
hard issues."
What happened to Civil Rights? Did the Black Power Revolution
fail? Who benefited from integration? What happened to the Black
revolutionaries? Where are the masses of Black people headed as
we engage the nineties? Encased in piercing poetic insight, What
Is Life/ offers hope and direction and moves us closer to
constructing a "realistic and effective ideology to serve our
continuing development"
—Third World Press (1994) 360º
A Revolution of Black Poets
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Amazon
Edited by Kalamu ya Salaam &
Kwame Alexander
ISBN: 1888018127
Format: Hardcover, 232pp
Pub. Date: September 1998
Publisher:
BlackWords, Inc.
Click to hear
Kalamu ya Salaam read the names of the poets included in this
historical document (Real
Audio Required)
At poetry slams, in coffee houses and
cafes, on spoken word CDs, and even featured in Hollywood
movies, a new and exciting renaissance of Black poetry is
emerging out of the oral tradition of African-American culture.
360°: A Revolution of Black Poets presents the cutting edge of
this poetic firestorm sweeping across America.
More About
360º A
Revolution of Black Poets
Fertile
Ground - Memories & Visions
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by
Kalamu
Ya Salaam (Editor),
Kysha N. Brown
(Editor)
ISBN: 096538540X
Pub. Date: June 1996
Format: Paperback, 288pp
Publisher:
Runagate Press
Read Why Fertile Ground is such an
important work
Fertile Ground is an unbelievable package of
diverse work. We have new science fiction from
Amiri Baraka, Kalamu ya Salaam and Kiini
Ibura Salaam. We also have manuscript excerpts from books which are now published:
Haki
Madhubuti presents two exquisitely crafted "love/marriage poems" from HeartLove,
and Sonia Sanchez gives us a section from Does Your House Have Lions. There is also an
excerpt from a work in progress by master poet Kamau Braithwaite (the 1994 winner of the
Neustadt International Prize for Literature). Kamau tackles the thorny issue of genocide
in Rwanda. There's also a major excerpt from an innovative work about cultural memory from
Tobago-born, Canadian resident M. Nourbese Philip. Educator, lawyer, and former Black
Panther leader Kathleen Cleaver is writing her memoirs; we have "The Summer of
Love," the chapter which describes Eldridge Cleaver's courtship of her. Educator,
musicologist and theologist Jon E. Spencer, author of Blues And Evil, presents a
provocative view of blues as an alternative theology to Christianity. The Atlanta
Committee for Black Liberation, a collective of cultural activists, documents an
insightful critique of the "Million Man March." Writer and award winning
anthologist (In Search Of Color Everywhere) E. Ethelbert Miller offers a tribute poem to
Langston Hughes. Mississippi poet Charlie Braxton graces us with two blues-based poetic
gems. Baton Rouge poet Erren Kelly gifts us with a poignant and gripping narrative poem
about the Black father/son relationship. From Africa we have three new poems by
South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile and a major essay on "time, poetry and the
blues" by Ghana's leading poet, Kofi Anyidoho. And there's much more!
Fertile Ground includes a very special tribute section highlighting the work of
literary critic Stephen Henderson, author of the seminal anthology, Understanding The New
Black Poetry. Three of Henderson's powerful and insightful essays (two of which are
previously unpublished) are included. Henderson has produced a body of criticism that is
unparalleled in its depth, scope and originality.
Also featured are New Orleans photographers Gus Bennett, Terri Mimms and Eric Waters;
graphic artists Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier of Atlanta and Douglas Redd of New Orleans; plus
mixed-media visual artist Renee Stout, who received critical acclaim for her touring
exhibit, "Dear Robert, I'll See You At The Crossroads."
Fertile Ground also highlights the work of three Black writers workshops. The Carolina
African American Writers' Collective, led by poet Lenard D. Moore, is represented by
twelve writers. From Liverpool, England we get the work of the Griot Workshop which
displays a healthy sampling of dub and music-influenced poetry. From New Orleans we get
the work of eleven writers of the Nommo Literary Society.
Biography - Salaam, Kalamu ya (1947-): An article from:
Contemporary Authors
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from: Thomson GaleThis digital document, covering the life
and work of Kalamu ya Salaam, is an entry from Contemporary
Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The
length of the entry is 1466 words. The page length listed above
is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content
of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include
the following information:
Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
Family members
Education
Professional associations and honors
Employment
Writings, including books and periodicals
A description of the author's work
References to further readings about the author
Anansi: Fiction of the African Diaspora
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Paperback: 102 pages
Publisher: Cetera Press (February 1999)
ISBN-10: 0015228355
by Sheree Renée Thomas (Author), Angeli R. Rasbury (Author),
, Kalamu ya Salaam (Author), et. al.
Taking its name from the trickster/storyteller figure in
African and Caribbean folklore, Anansi: Fiction of the African
Diaspora introduces original short fiction by talented writers
of African descent.
Read More about Anansi From A Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets
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by Kalamu Y. Salaam (Editor)
ISBN: 0965385418
Pub. Date: April 1998
Format: Hardcover, 220pp
Publisher:
Runagate Press
Related Links
Kalamu ya Salaam is available for lectures, poetry readings, video
screenings, workshops and residencies
http://www.kalamu.com/
Kalamu's Reviews on AALBC.com
http://aalbc.com/reviews/kalamu.htm
e-drum
www.topica.com/lists/e-drum
a listserv providing information of interests to black writers and diverse
supporters worldwide
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