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African Voices & Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center Host
Writers Conference on Mystery Writing

Author Grace Edwards Hosts Mystery Writing Workshop
& Valerie Wilson Wesley is Guest Author

On Saturday, December 8, 2007, from 1 pm-5:00 pm , African Voices and the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center (FDCAC) will present “The Art of Mystery Writing” at the 8th Annual Cultural Circle Conference. Award-winning writer Grace Edwards, the author of Do or Die, will host a mystery-writing workshop, which will begin at 1 pm. The conference welcomes celebrated mystery author Valerie Wilson Wesley as a featured writer who will share her experiences with the Circle. The forum will be held at 270 W. 96th Street (bet. Broadway & West End Aves.). Registration fee is $15 (AV members) and $25 (Non-members).

To register call (212) 865-2982 or visit www.africanvoices.com. The Circle is sponsored by WABC-TV, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Sisters Uptown Bookstore, NAACP and FDCAC.

The Circle will offer insights on the creative and business sides of publishing for writers pursuing career opportunities. FDCAC will provide a special writers resource workshop which will include information on the pros and cons of choosing the right literary agent to help sell your book to a publishing company.

From 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm, Grace Edwards will lead a hands-on writing workshop designed to generate new work from emerging authors and experienced writers interested in the art of mystery writing. Writers are encouraged to bring journals, pens and paper for this fun session, which will offer several methods for dealing with writers block and freeing the artist’s creative spirit.

Ms. Edwards will share her journey to becoming a successful Mystery writer in a competitive publishing market. She is the author of Do or Die , the fourth novel in the Harlem-based mystery series featuring former cop Mali Anderson. Her first book, If I Should Die , was released in 1997 and earned an Anthony Award nomination for Best First Novel. The second book, A Toast Before Dying , won the 1999 Fiction Honor Book Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. No Time to Die , the third novel, was released in 1999. Film and TV rights to the series have been sold. Ms. Edwards teaches creative writing, and has been a member of the Harlem Writer’s Guild since 1970. Her first novel, In the Shadow of the Peacock, was originally released in 1988, and will be reprinted by Harlem Writers Guild Press.

Some of the guests joining participating in the Circle Conference are:

Jacqueline Johnson is a graduate of New York University and the City College of New York. Ms. Johnson is a multi-disciplined writer working in the areas of poetry, books for children, non-fiction and fiction. She is the winner of the 1997 White Pine Press Award for Poetry. Her poetry book A Gathering of Mother Tongues was published by White Pine Press in 1998. She is also the author of Stokely Carmichael: The Story of Black Power (Simon & Schuster Books).

Glenville Lovell is the author of three novels, several short stories and a number of prize-winning plays. In 1995, his first novel, Fire in the Canes, was published by Soho Press to wide acclaim, as was his second novel, Song of Night, published in 1998. Mr. Lovell’s first mystery, Too Beautiful to Die, was called a “page-turner” by the New York Daily News.

Johnny Temple is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Akashic Books, an award-winning Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction. Akashic Books has a strong focus on literature from the African Diaspora, and the authors they publish include Amiri Baraka, Chris Abani, Colin Channer, Kwame Dawes, Percival Everett, Ed Bullins, and many others. Temple won the American Association of Publishers’ 2005 Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing. He is also the Chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council, which helps to organize the annual Brooklyn Book Festival.

If requested, we can also e-mail a registration form but you are encouraged to register on-line at www.africanvoices.com Please feel free to forward this information.