Acclaimed author takes a look at one amazing year and joins the ranks of the nearly century-old Authors Guild.
(PRWEB) November 16, 2005 -- After a year of garnering acclaim for poetry dedicated to the victims of phenomenal disasters, receiving awards for a ground-breaking history book, and the frequent publication of work in ESSENCE Magazine, it makes sense that U.S. author Aberjhani would join the ranks of Authors Guild wordsmiths at http://www.aberjhani.com .
Established in 1912, the Authors Guild has proven a literary haven to some of the most distinguished authors of the past and present. Notable past members have included Nobel laureates Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, Pearl S. Buck, and William Faulkner. Among the Guild’s current council members are renowned authors Derrick Bell, Judy Blume, Michael Crichton, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and David Levering Lewis.
“I’ve always been fortunate enough to attract readers who expressed a strong appreciation for my work,” said Aberjhani, a former editor for the U.S. Air Force, “but I decided some time ago that earning membership in the Authors Guild was a major part of the criteria by which I would accept myself as an accomplished writer.”
Despite the author’s self-criticism, he received substantial validation during the first half of 2005 in the form of a CHOICE Academic Title Award and an MBWC Best History Book Award for ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE (with Sandra L. West). However, with the world community challenged as it was throughout the year by such global atrocities as the Southeast Asian tsunami, hurricane Katrina, and the ongoing ravages of terrorism and war, the writer saw no time for resting on his proverbial laurels.
Instead, such now well-known poems as “The History Lesson,” “An Angel for New Orleans,” and “Wings of Early Morning Light” addressed both the natural and man-made disasters that shook the world in 2005. Moreover, via his BLACK SKYLARK Z-PED MUSIC PLAYER web site, he also presented moving poetic tributes upon the deaths of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and the beloved singer Luther Vandross.
“I was so busy trying to write both responsively and responsibly about major events as they unfolded––and still are unfolding in fact,” said the Savannah, Georgia-born author, “that it never occurred to me that others would feel inspired to produce exceptional works based on my own.”
Included among these works are: "Archetype of a Soulsinger" by Mari D’India; "The Onyx of Savannah" by Andre E. B. ben-Yehu; and, "After Aberjhani/ Awaiting the Dawn" by Kate Burnside. “It’s always a very special honor when another writer produces a story or poem in acknowledgement of one’s work.”
Poetry further played a major role in the author’s life as ESSENCE Magazine published a series of his poems from ELEMENTAL (with artist Luther E. Vann). Moreover, Aberjhani contributed to feature journalism during 2005 with stories on: the Artist Known as Pleasant; and women’s rights advocates Miriam Center and Sky Edeawo, published in CONNECT SAVANNAH.
Having sustained a steady stream of published works since the beginning of 2005, the author-poet is currently in the process of closing the year in the same way with his Authors Guild site at http://www.aberjhani.com, the completion on his novel, and the presentation of works in such online sites as EXPOSE’D, The Redbridge Review, and The Blueprint.
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