Alice Dunbar Nelson

      I will be one of the participating poets in a celebration of Harlem Renaissance poetry to be held in my hometown this spring by The Seacoast African American Cultural Center. (See link below for more information.) Each participating poet will read one or two poems by a specific writer from the period, and then read one or two original works that they have written in response to that writer. I have chosen Alice Dunbar-Nelson. I am now studying her life and work, and would love to hear any thoughts or ideas you might have about how I can best represent her.

      http://www.johnmichaelalbert.com/2013/11/30/what-langston-heard/

      Here she is;

And here is a bit about her...

Alice Dunbar Nelson, writer and critic helped Harlem Renaisannce | African American Registry

Digital Short Story

       Yesterday, inspired by my friend John Herman, I published a little digital picture book as part of a writing contest. The contest was created due to a need for beginning readers that are of interest to those over the age of thirteen, but just beginning to learn to read in English, or any language. Even though I have an extensive background in early literacy I found this to be very challenging. You must limit not just the number of sentences you use to tell a story, but also the length and structure of the sentences themselves. Especially tricky is to rely on the 100 sight words (Fry's) that are first taught and need extensive reinforcement. Ideally too, you are expected to choose an image for each page that helps the reader make sense of the words.
     I ended up writing a little travel story, about my enrollment at A Room of  Her Own's retreat for women writers in New Mexico last August. You can have a little look at my book here if you'd like.

http://tarheelreader.org/2014/02/01/a-long-way-to-go/

www.tarheelreader.org/2014/02/01/a-long-way-to-go/

     For more info about the contest visit www.storysharecontest.com