Aurora Harris' "SOLITUDE OF FIVE BLACK MOONS" WINS A PEN-OAKLAND AWARD

It has been a great week! I celebrated my birthday and on Wednesday, I received a phone message from Dr. Rosemary Weatherston that my book of poetry, "Solitude of Five Black Moons" was selected as the winner of the PEN-Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. Thanks to everyone. I'm going to take a break so I can write the acceptance letter! Below is an official announcement for the public: Message from Broadside Press and U of D-Mercy Press: "It gives Broadside Press and the University of Detroit-Mercy Press great pleasure to inform you that Aurora Harris' poetry book "Solitude of Five Black Moons" is the recipient of a 2012 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. The PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Awards were created twenty years ago to honor writers of exceptional works often not acknowledged by the mainstream literary community. Judged by respected writers, the awards honor books published the previous year that both reflect a multi-cultural or marginalized viewpoint and represent the highest standards of literature. Congratulations Aurora!" You can find more information at the PEN web site: http://www.penoakland.com/ Aurora

My Poem With In The Tradition Jazz Band

More wonderful news! The Sirius Cd is now getting heavy airplay in South Carolina and a station in Brazil confirmed receipt of the cd for airplay! Also, last Saturday, I received my BMI registrations for my poems in the mail! Go to semja.org to see the reviews of "Sirius" with a sample of my poem Pan Afrikan Prayer. Peace. Aurora c.2012 by Aurora Harris

Poetry Honoring Faruq Z. Bey Tonight

What: Poetry Honoring Faruq Z. Bey Where: African World Festival Main Stage of Charles H. Wright Museum Detroit, MI between East Warren Ave, John R, Farnsworth and Brush Streets Who: Dr. Gloria House, Rayfield Waller, ML Liebler, Anita Jones, Kim Hunter, Ann Holdreith, Aurora Harris When: Tonight. 7:30 pm to 7:50 pm

Community Work; In The Tradition "Sirius" CD; Poetry

July 5, 2012: I haven't had a chance to write much, so I'm using this time to catch up. In the past month and a half, I've been really busy as usual. In Detroit, for 13 youth groups from the Detroit area, Soh, Meiko, and I co-facilitated an Introduction to Asian Culture for the Detroit Asian Youth Project. We had a Cultural Mapping excercise and an "I AM FROM" poetry workshop. Emily Lawsin, Matthew Oldsman, and I read our poetry- another historical reading...first time we read together! The event was well attended...over 50 people participated in the mapping and poetry excercises! On June 23, I read from my book at a new place called "The Collective" in Detroit. After the reading, I participated in the 30th Anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin lecture and tour series. In Detroit's former China Town District, I provided a short lecture on exclusionary laws pertaining to Asian Americans in the US; a brief history on the formation of ethnic enclaves; shared a personal account of my Filipino grandfather and his brothers'immigration; their work in Alaska and Seattle fishing industries, and, field work picking fruit and vegetables for the Libby Foods corporation, to discuss the historical "retro fitting" of Asians by education and work skills. This past Sunday, I attended Grace Bogg's 97th Birthday party at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. This Saturday, July 7th, for the DAY Project, I will be at the Michigan State University building on Woodward in Detroit, with Shane Bernardo to facilitate a class on Asian Culture, Food, and History of the Philippines. We are still trying to confirm the time. I should know something by Friday. Call me at 313 673-6313 for an update. I've either been reading my poetry book "Solitude of Five Black Moons" around Detroit or doing advocacy work for parents with special needs students. I was looking forward to taking a summer off, but last week I learned that the school that my nephew attends, fired most of the vocational teachers because they did not have special ed teacher certifications... That is a whole other space that I can't write about right now...So I'll shift my thoughts to the band that I record poetry with: In The Tradition. Last week, I learned that In The Tradition's "Sirius" cd is number 9 on a jazz chart of CJSW FM in Calgary, Alberta Canada. On July 3, around 8:00 p.m., while I was talking to Olujimi, a DJ from Costa Rica contacted band leader Olujimi via Facebook and informed him that he just received the cd in his hands and was going to play it. My poem, Pan Afrikan Prayer has been getting a lot of airplay and positive feed back from DJ's and listeners from all over the world! Other radio stations that have my poem and the cd in rotation are: WAIF FM in Cincinatti, Ohio WZZA AM in Tuscumbia, Alabama WHFR FM (Henry Ford Community College) Dearborn, MI WJSU FM in Jackson, Mississippi 95.5 FM in San Jose, Costa Rica 91.7 FM in Lagos, Nigeria WNCU FM in North Carolina That's all for now... Aurora

Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies 2012 Workshops

The Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies Summer Writing Workshops will be held on Saturdays, June 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 12 noon to 3:00 pm at the University of Detroit Mercy campus in the Commerce and Finance Bldg. Room 213. The campus is located on Livernois and McNichols in Detroit. Cost is $20.00 per workshop for adults and professionals; $10.00 for students with school ID. Workshop participants will complete an analysis of education and public schools, in Detroit and other cities. Discussion of Broadside Poets and poetry writing are included. High school students are welcome! Broadside Press is a non profit. 501-c3. To register, call or email Aurora Harris 313 673-6313 aurora917@gmail.com Mail check or money order to: Broadside Press P.O. Box 02011 Detroit, MI 48202. Also see announcement on the Broadside Press Facebook page with the photo of the founder, Dudley Randall at his typewriter

May 5, 2012: Catalog of Filipino Surnames

Good Morning, While researching my family history, I discovered an intetestieng site that lists the Filipino surnames of families that were not coverted into Spanish names. The page also contains history that includes changes in pronounciation. http://www.bibingka.com/names/

Pan-African News Wire: Detroit MLK Day Focuses on Women, Civil Rights & the Struggle Ahead

Catching up on where I've been! Check out the article about Detroit's MLK Day:

Pan-African News Wire: Detroit MLK Day Focuses on Women, Civil Rights & the Struggle Ahead

Mitzi's class paper on the Sept. 2011 Broadside Press reading at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History at http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid=23&id=64675




Aurora