Vocal Expressions

I’m an avid fan of Walter Mosley’s crime fiction novels. I love the way he crafts his characters - flawed with some sense of justice and humanity in a world filled with crazy twists and turns. Archibald Lawless, Anarchist at Large fits the mold seamlessly. So, let’s meet Felix Orlean, a journalism student at Columbia University originally from New Orleans whose interest has been piqued by an ad for a “scribe” to work with “A. LAWLESS IN THE TESSLA BUILDING.” When he appears to meet Archibald Lawless at ten to six in the morning, he has no idea what he was getting into because Archibald seemed like an oddball. Nevertheless, Felix’s curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to try out the gig.  Archibald gives Felix a piece of paper to check up on a list of people to make sure they are fine. But when Felix starts doing so, some of them start asking lots of questions and he even witnesses one of them die from an alleged heart attack. But then he gets arrested on suspicion of ...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, playwright, essayist, novelist, poet, and political activist, Pearl Cleage. In 1981, she produced her first play, Puppetplay, followed by Hospice in 1983, Good News in 1984, and Essential in 1985. She also produced three of her most well-known works Flyin’ West (1992), Blues for an Alabama Sky (1995) and Bourbon at the Border (1997) at the Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre in partnership with artistic director Kenny Leon. She is currently the Distinguished Artist in Residence at this same theatre.    In 1987, she became the founding editor of Catalyst Magazine, an Atlanta-based literary journal. In the 1990s, she wrote a recurring column called “Stop Making Sense” in the Atlanta Tribune. S he has also had her articles published in Essence and The New York Times Book Review .  She didn’t start writing novels until the mid-1990s and enjoys writing across genres where she ...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, poet, novelist, and essayist, Julia Alvarez. Her work is influenced by her Dominican-American experiences and focuses on issues of immigration, assimilation, and identity. She has achieved critical and commercial success internationally and is regarded by many literary critics as a significant Latina writer. Some of her novels include  How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), and Yo! (1997). In 2014, she won the National Medal of Arts. She is currently the writer-in-residence at Middlebury College where she teaches creative writing part-time. Check out her quote about passing on kindness. #womenshistorymonth #poet #novelist #essayist #JuliaAlvarez #vocalexpressions    

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you journalist, crime fiction author, and short story writer, Laura Lippman. She graduated from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She is a former reporter of the defunct San Antonio Light and The Baltimore Sun . She has written for The New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , and other publications. She has penned over twenty crime novels and is best known for her novels set in Baltimore that features Tess Monaghan ( Baltimore Blues )   inspired by her work as a reporter. She has won many awards including the Agatha, the Anthony, the Edgar, the Nero, the Gumshoe, and the Shamus. Her novel  What the Dead Know  (2007) made the  New York Times  Best Seller list and was shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association Dagger Award. Her novel  Every Secret Thing  was adapted into a 2014 movie starring Diane Lane and her novel  Lady in the Lake , w...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, Nigerian novelist, short story writer, and non-fiction writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She has published multiple works some of which are under the name Amanda N. Adichie. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003) was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and it also received the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (2005). Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) was adapted into a film (2014) by the same name by Biyi Bandele. Her third novel, Americanah was selected by The New York Times as one of “The 10 Best Books of 2013.” Check out her quote about what people become when they are shown as only one thing. #womenshistorymonth #Nigeriannovelist #shortstorywriter #nonfictionwriter #ChimamandaNgoziAdichie #vocalexpressions    

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you author, journalist, and teacher, Bebe Moore Campbell. She graduated from University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and was an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was also a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and a founding member of NAMI-Inglewood. Her fiction works tackled racism and its harmful effects on individuals and their relationships. In 1992, she released her first novel, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine which drew inspiration from the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. The New York Times Magazine described it as one of the most influential books of 1992. Her second novel, Brothers and Sisters was inspired by the Rodney King beating and the Los Angeles riots that ensued. In 1994, within two weeks after its release, it was named The New York Times Magazine best seller.  In 2003, she wrote her first children’s ...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, journalist, columnist, and novelist, Anna Quindlen. In 1974, she began her career as a reporter and held several positions at The New York Times. In 1995, she left journalism to become a full-time novelist. In 1999, she joined Newsweek where she wrote a bi-weekly column until she announced her semi-retirement in 2009. She has written nine novels, several of which were adapted into motion pictures and TV shows. Her semi-autobiographical novel One True Thing was made into a 1998 movie starring Meryl Streep and Ren é e  Zellweger. Check out her quote about the importance of reading books. #womenshistorymonth #AnnaQuindlen #journalist #columnist #novelist #vocalexpressions  

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you author, educator, and social activist, bell hooks (birth name – Gloria Jean Watkins). Her pen name was adopted from her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. She graduated from Stanford University (BA), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA), and University of California, Santa Cruz (PhD).  Most of her work centered on intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender and addressed love, class, sexuality, mass media, and feminism. Her work spans around 40 books, ranging from essays, poetry, and children’s books. She published a number of scholarly articles, appeared in documentary films and engaged in public lectures.  In 1976, she began her academic career teaching English and ethnic studies at several academic institutions before joining Berea College in Berea, Kentucky in 2004. While there, she founded the bell hooks Institute in 2014 along with professor Dr. M. Shadee Mala...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, writer, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist, Arundhati Roy. In 1997, she won the Booker Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The God of Small Things . It was also listed as one of The New York Times Notable Books of the Year and reached fourth position on The New York Times Bestsellers list for Independent Fiction. In her early career, she wrote screenplays for In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) and Electric Moon (1992). Check out her quote about the voiceless. #womenshistorymonth #writer #esssayist #screenwriter ##socialactivist #TheGodofSmallThings #BookerPrizeforFiction #ArundhatiRoy #vocalexpressions