Black & Lit Book Club – January 2023

January’s Black & Lit Book Club Selection: On the Black Hand Side by Gerald L. Coleman

Hosted by Claudia Love Mair, Carnegie’s Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative (KBWC) Coordinator, Black & Lit Book Club features new books by Black Kentucky writers. We will explore issues related to race and discuss the characters’ relationships, family, home life, dreams, and challenges. We’ll also study aspects of their writing, such as word choice, themes, character, plot, and setting. This book group will be open to KBWC members and anyone who wishes to attend. When possible, we will meet with the author. The KBWC Black & Lit Book Club meets on the second Tuesday of every other month.

Each month, the first 25 registrants receive a free copy of the selected book. Sponsored by LEXArts, SouthArts, Kentucky Arts Council, and the Chethik Family Fund to Advance Black Writers.

Gerald L. Coleman is a Philosopher, Theologian, Poet, and Scifi-Fantasy Author born in Lexington, Kentucky and now residing in Atlanta. His most recent poetry appears in, Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture, Drawn To Marvel: Poems From The Comic Books, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel Vol. 18, Black Bone Anthology, the 10th Anniversary Issue of Diode Poetry Journal, and About Place Journal. His speculative fiction short stories appear in: The Science Fiction Cyberfunk Anthology: The City, the Rococoa Anthology by Roaring Lion, the Urban Fantasy Anthology: Terminus, the 2019 JordanCon Anthology: So You Want Stories?, Dark Universe: Bright Empire, Cyberfunk!, the 2022 JordanCon Anthology: Neither Beginnings Nor Endings, and the Weird Fiction anthology: Whether Change – by Broken Eye Books. His essays appear in the polish language con-Magazine: KONwersacje, Apex Magazine 127, and the Hugo nominated Fanzine: Journey Planet. He is the author of the Epic Fantasy novel saga The Three Gifts, which currently includes When Night Falls (Book One), A Plague of Shadows (Book Two), and the forthcoming When Chaos Reigns (Book Three). He has been a Guest Author at DragonCon, Boskone, Blacktasticon, JordanCon, Atlanta Science Fiction & Fantasy Expo, The Outer Dark Symposium, World Horror Con, Imaginarium, and Multiverse. He served as a Programme Content Consultant for WorldCon Dublin and the Director of the Fantasy Track for MultiverseCon. He is a Rhysling Award Nominee, an SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association) member, a co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, and a Fellow at the Black Earth Institute. He’s released five collections of poetry entitled the road is long, falling to earth, microphone check, Nappy Metaphysic, and the upcoming On the Black Hand Side.