It was a wonderful and fortunate day at Elmhurst Community Library on Saturday, February 18 as Queens Library held an all-day Lunar New Year Festival.
All three floors of our newest library hosted special events, and over 4,000 guests joined us throughout the day, easily the most people who have attended a Queens Library event this year. Our guests came to Elmhurst from all over Queens, and even as far away as Long Island and Staten Island!
We started the Year of the Rooster celebration with a traditional ceremonial lion dance, followed by painting, calligraphy, and crafts for the kids in attendance. They also received lucky red envelopes for the New Year!
Next were free Chinese delicacies for our guests like dumplings, spring rolls, and pan fried noodles, followed by a Fashion/Music/Dance show featuring Fresh Meadows’s own Ba Ban Chinese Music Society, along with a volunteer community dance group from the Elmhurst area and local musician Qinni Lee playing the pipa.
The day was capped off by a raffle with prizes donated by local community organizations, including a rice cooker, toasters, a spice rack, and golden rooster key chains
“Everyone enjoyed the whole event tremendously,” said Community Library Manager Yasha Hu. “We’re so excited that so many people came to visit Elmhurst, and they’re already looking forward to next year's Lunar New Year Festival.”
Photos: Qinni Lee played the pipa for our Lunar New Year guests, while some of our youngest festivalgoers showed us their artistic skills.
The Allegro Singers
Opera fans, rejoice! Broken Heart Week wouldn’t be complete without an operatic performance celebrating love and tragedy. This Saturday, join us at Forest Hills Library for our feature presentation The Allegro Singers Present Tragic Love Stories in Opera.
The Allegro Singers, founded by Music Director and pianist Inna Leytush 20 years ago, are a group of highly trained vocalists ranging from soprano to baritone. The concert will feature beloved arias and duets from Il Trovatore by Verdi, Carmen by Bizet, Romeo et Juliette by Gounod, and other popular music selections.
The featured artists are soprano Liora Michelle, tenor Hamid Rodriguez, and baritone Ricardo Rosa. Liora Michelle got her start performing in Australia as a principal soprano for the Melbourne City Opera, and has portrayed over 25 heroines in classic works, including Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, and Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello. Hamid Rodriguez began studying music at the Interamerican University of San Germán, Puerto Rico. Rodriguez has taken on the roles of Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, and The Sailor in Dido and Aeneas. Ricardo Rosa has appeared as David in Samuel Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, Peter in Hansel und Gretel by Humperdick, and David in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz.
The Sonia Olla Flamenco Dance Company
The Andalusian art of flamenco is known for being fiery and full of passion. Percussive heel-and-toe, brightly colored costumes, and the accompaniments of enthusiastic singing and Spanish guitar all blend together to create this incredible high-energy art form. So what better time than during Broken Heart Week to titillate your senses with one of the most widely-known and well-loved flamenco groups of all time?
The Company will present Tablao Sevilla, a routine which seeks to recreate the "tablaos" café setting found in the traditional flamenco clubs of Spain.
Sonia Olla was born and raised in Barcelona when she earned a degree in Spanish Dance and Flamenco at the the Instituto de Teatro y Danza in Barcelona. She’s been hailed by The New York Times as “a furnace of earthy sensuality” and she and partner Ismael Fernandez were even invited to choreograph Madonna’s worldwide “Rebel Heart” tour in 2015.
Olla’s on and off-stage partner, Ismael Fernández, is an award-winning cante flamenco artist, musical director, and dance teacher. In 2004, he won the National Contest of Cordoba, where he sang for the famed dancer Soraya Clavijo. Throughout his career, Ismael has worked with flamenco legends Antonio Canales, Farruquito, Marina Heredia, and El Torombo.
Join us for these exciting final performances of Broken Heart Week!
The Allegro Singers
Saturday, February 18
3pm
Forest Hills
Sonia Olla Flamenco Dance Company
Saturday, February 18
3pm
Langston Hughes
Article by Gabrielle Hew.
So what, exactly, is Broken Heart Week?
Broken Heart Week (February 12–18) is a time to celebrate loves won and lost. Sure, February 14 is Valentine’s Day, but at Queens Library, every facet of love and heartbreak will be explored in this week-long program.
Several of our community libraries will host book discussions, movie screenings, theatre, opera, comedy, health seminars, concerts, poetry readings, oral histories, and even DIY arts and crafts that explore the universal human experience of love and loss.
Plus, as a special part of Broken Heart Week, you can enter our Short, But Not-So-Sweet T-Shirt Sweepstakes! Share your Broken Heart story (200 words or less) with us and you’ll be automatically entered to win a FREE, limited edition Broken Heart Week t-shirt. (If writing’s not your thing, be sure to come to select Broken Heart Week programs for a chance to get a free shirt.)
Be sure to visit the Broken Heart Week webpage to reserve your free seats for our featured events, enter the Short, But Not-So-Sweet Sweepstakes, and download the entire schedule for Broken Heart Week.
Broken Heart Week is a reminder that even the gloomiest experiences can be learning curves, times for reflection, and a chance to fight for your happiness.
Romance gets all the attention on Valentine’s Day, but what about the opposite? This February, Queens Library dedicates seven days to the many facets of heartbreak—and the silver linings that follow.
Broken Heart Week is made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
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Broken Heart Week is headlined by four special featured events—be sure to reserve your free seats now before they’re gone!
The Moth: LOVESICK
SOLD OUT—Seats are No Longer Available for this event, but we will be forming a standby line in case of no-shows.
This two-part event brought to you by The Moth will feature a spoken-word program and a storytelling workshop. Come prepared with a five-minute story about the heart wanting what the heart wants. Talk about starstruck lovers, crossed wires, yearning, dreaming, and scheming to find Mrs. Right or Mr. Right-now. Explore dating, marriage, and “It's Complicated.” Tell the stories of hearts that ache, break, or burst with joy!
Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Flushing Community Library
41-17 Main Street
718-661-1200
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Roxanne Shanté Presents: Hip Hop—The Pain is Real
Hip Hop legend Roxanne Shanté talks about her own heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and music, and will invite the audience to express their own heartbreak stories and rhymes.
Monday, February 13 at 6:00 p.m.
Queens Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
718-990-0778
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Frida Kahlo—A Broken/Feisty Heart
Frida Kahlo’s most famous artworks, her passionate love letters to her partner Diego Rivera, and a live performance of mariachi music will bring the feisty artist to life in a celebration of her uncompromised spirit in art and love.
Wednesday, February 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Jackson Heights Community Library
35-51 81 Street
718-899-2500
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Lauren Elder Presents: Broadway Standards—Heartbreak at the Great White Way
Broadway performer Lauren Elder will present a comprehensive list of beloved and lesser-known Broadway standards about love and loss.
Saturday, February 18 at 2:30 p.m.
Queens Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
718-990-0778
Tags
In honor of African-American History Month, we're paying tribute to a special selection of notable African-American writers.
Check this blog post every week in February for updates!
February 3: Langston Hughes
February 7: Naomi Jackson
February 10: Darryl "DMC" McDaniels
February 14: Phillis Wheatley
February 17: Colson Whitehead
February 21: Lorraine Hansberry
February 24: MK Asante
February 28: James Baldwin
Langston Hughes was a poet, novelist, and political activist, best known as a primary contributor to, and leader of, the Harlem Renaissance—an explosion of influential African-American art, music, and culture in New York City from about 1918 to the mid-1930s. His signature poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” was written when he was seventeen years old and published in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s official magazine, The Crisis, in 1921. It was included in his first poetry collection, The Weary Blues, in 1926.
Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri, and raised by his grandmother until the age of thirteen. His father had fled racism in America by going to Cuba and Mexico, and his mother had traveled seeking work. While still in elementary school, he was elected Class Poet. He was later reunited with his mother and stepfather and attended high school in Cleveland, Ohio. While he did maintain a relationship with his father, it was always strained, partially due to his aspirations of being a writer. Working a number of odd jobs, he would eventually travel abroad as a ship’s crewman. He spent time in England with the black expatriate community that had surged there after World War I. After returning to the States, he made the acquaintance of poet Vachel Lindsay, and later was classmates with Thurgood Marshall at Lincoln University, a historically black university in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Hughes earned his B.A. in 1929. He was extremely political, which was evident in his prolific writing. He protested against Jim Crow segregation laws and traveled the world in creative endeavors with radical left activists. Hughes was accused of Communism by the members of the political right, and eventually, with much criticism from his fanbase, distanced himself from politics in his writing as well as his public life. Though never confirmed while he was alive, a number of Hughes’s works have been interpreted as odes to male love interests. He has remained an inspirational figure in black and LGBTQ communities alike.
Langston Hughes published 15 collections of poetry during his career, including Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951), a suite of poems meant to be read as a single work. He also published 11 books of fiction, seven books of non-fiction, 12 major plays—including Mule Bone (1931) with Zora Neale Hurston—and eight children’s books. He earned a number of accolades in his life, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935, the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1960, and honorary doctorates from Howard University and Western Reserve University. Following his death, many memorials have been named in his honor: the first Langston Hughes Medal was awarded by the City College of New York in 1978; the Langston Hughes Middle School opened in Reston, Virginia, in 1979; Langston Hughes High School opened in Fairburn, Georgia in 2009; and his home on East 127th Street in Harlem received landmark status from the City of New York in 1981. We, of course, can’t leave out the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Corona, Queens, which opened in 1969, and gained full status in the Queens Library system in 1987. Image credit: Langston Hughes photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936.
Naomi Jackson is a New York-based author whose debut novel, The Star Side of Bird Hill, has launched her into literary stardom. Since its release in 2015, this poetic prose about two young girls who are forced to relocate from Brooklyn to Barbados was named an Honor Book for Fiction by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. The Star Side of Bird Hill was also selected for the Gracie Book Club, the project launched by First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray in 2016.
Jackson was born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn by her West Indian parents. She attended Williams College in Massachusetts for her undergraduate degree and then studied fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2011. She attended the University of Cape Town on a Fulbright Scholarship and received an M.A. in Creative Writing. She was the 2013-2014 resident at The Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania, and also had residencies at Hedgebrook in Washington and the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. She also, of course, spent considerable time traveling in the Caribbean and connecting with her familial roots there. Jackson has taught writing at her alma mater, the University of Iowa, as well as Oberlin College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the City College of New York. She is currently the Visiting Writer at Amherst College.
Before The Star Side of Bird Hill, Jackson was published in many literary journals, popular magazines, and websites, including Word Without Borders, Buzzfeed, Bloom Literary Journal, espnW.com, and Elle Magazine, just to name a few. She continues to publish essays and short stories, has been reviewed by the likes of The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR, and was named a “Writer to Watch” in Fall 2015 by Publishers Weekly. We certainly will be watching as her career continues to flourish! Image credit: Photo of Naomi Jackson by Lola Flash, courtesy of naomi-jackson.com.
Darryl "DMC" McDaniels helped change the way the mainstream saw hip hop by the time Run-DMC hit number six on the Billboard 200 with their third album Raising Hell in 1986. McDaniels co-wrote the lyrics on much of the album, most notably the two original singles “My Adidas” and “It’s Tricky.” The break-out hit, however, was a cover with a twist—a rap-rock version of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” with guest performances by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. The album was number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts and marked the beginning of hip hop’s evolution into popular music. The album continues to influence artists of every genre, and is considered by Time, Rolling Stone, and Slant Magazine to be one of the greatest albums of all time.
Darryl Matthews McDaniels was born on May 31, 1964 in Harlem, New York, but was surrendered to the New York Foundling home by his mother. He was eventually adopted, and raised in Hollis, Queens. At the age of 14, he began teaching himself how to DJ on equipment given to him by his older brother. He soon teamed up with friends Joseph "Run" Simmons and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell. McDaniels was encouraged to rap, rather than DJ. He used the moniker DMcD—how he signed his work in school—shortened later to just “DMC.” In 1984, Run-DMC released their self-titled debut to much positive feedback from the music community. DMC had already been abusing alcohol for some time by this point, using it to overcome stage fright since age 15.
By the release of Raising Hell, creative differences had emerged within the group, and tensions grew. In 1991, he was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis and made the decision to quit drinking cold turkey, though he would experience backslide. He met his wife Zuri Alston in 1992, and they had their son Darryl “D’Son” McDaniels, Jr. in 1994. In the late '90s, DMC suffered from spasmodic dysphonia, a condition that robbed him of his iconic rap voice. It was during this same time that he first learned of his adoption. This was the tail end of a depression spiral that had included suicidal thoughts for well over a decade. He credits an unexpected source for finding hope—the music of Sarah McLachlan. In 2004, he completed inpatient treatment for alcoholism and has been sober ever since.
DMC released a solo album, Checks Thugs and Rock n Roll, in 2006. In 2014, he founded his own independent comic book imprint, Darryl Makes Comics. The first book he released was DMC, featuring a superhero designed after himself who thwarts heroes, as well as villains, who have let their powers get out of control. His memoir Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide was published in 2016 by Harper Collins. We were honored when DMC visited Queens Library in December 2015 and spoke with our Hip Hop Coordinator Ralph McDaniels about his life, his career, and the past and future of hip hop culture. Image credit: Photo of DMC by MFidel Photography, part of the February 2017 “Queens Hip Hop Pioneers” photo exhibit at Central Library in Jamaica.
Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American female poet, with an extraordinary gift for languages and great capacity for learning. Poems On Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was the one collected volume of her work published in her lifetime, when she was 20 years old. The book’s publishing was paid for, in part, by patrons of English nobility and the Wheatley family, by whom she had been purchased as a slave.
Her birthdate is presumed to be in 1753 in West Africa, but exact information is sparse. She was kidnapped and sold at the age of seven or eight and brought to Massachusetts on a ship called The Phillis, which is where she got her first name. A wealthy Boston merchant by the name of John Wheatley purchased her as a slave for his wife, Susana. The family was considered somewhat progressive in their time, and young Phillis received an unprecedented education, not only for a slave, but for any girl. By age 12 she could read in English, Greek, and Latin, and by age 13 was writing poetry. The family enjoyed showing off her skills, and rather than have her do physical chores, escorted her on audiences with the likes of Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, whose patronage helped in publishing her first volume of poems in London. This was after failing to publish the volume in America, and having to prove the work was hers in court. The general perception at the time was that Africans could not write, let alone write poetry.
Phillis Wheatley would also later meet George Washington after writing an ode to him, which was later republished in the Pennsylvania Gazette by Thomas Paine. She also kept correspondence with Reverend Samson Occom and the British philanthropist John Thornton. As per John Wheatley’s will, Phillis was freed upon his death in 1778. She had lost her patronage after gaining her freedom. She married a freedman named John Peters, but the two had many financial and emotional struggles. They lived in poverty and suffered through the death of two infants, and her husband was eventually incarcerated in debtors’ prison. Phillis wrote a second volume of poetry, but was unable to have it published as a book, though selected poems would be run in magazines and pamphlets. In 1838, the third edition of Margaretta Matilda Odell's Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave collected Wheatley's poems along with those of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, who was the first African-American poet to be published in the southern United States.
Phillis Wheatley’s work is widely considered essential in black literature. Her first published volume made her the most famous black woman in the world; French philosopher Voltaire was said to be a fan. While recognized for her skill during her life, her subtle subversion and the allusions and double meanings of her works have been studied and analyzed long after her death. Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after her in 2012, and Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for her as well. She is featured both in the Boston Women's Memorial and on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. In 2002, professor and scholar Molefi Kete Asante named Phillis Wheatley one of the 100 Greatest African Americans.
Colson Whitehead is a New York-based author whose most acclaimed book to date is his sixth novel, The Underground Railroad, published in 2016. The story follows two slaves in their bid for freedom—only the Underground Railroad in this world is quite literal. A subway system takes them on a journey through time and shows them the beginnings of bondage, to the struggles of the modern day. This unique novel was given a National Book Award for Fiction, and hit the height of popularity when it was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in August 2016. It was also part of President Barack Obama’s personal summer reading list. In January 2017, the American Library Association awarded The Underground Railroad the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. It was also a New York Times bestseller and was selected as one of their Ten Best Books of 2016.
Whitehead was born on November 6, 1969 in Brooklyn, and grew up in Manhattan. He attended Harvard University, though he was not accepted into their creative writing program during his education. Very soon after his graduation in 1991, he began writing for The Village Voice as an editorial assistant and a TV, book, and music critic. He started writing his first novels during this time. In 2002, he was granted a MacArthur Fellowship, which is colloquially known as “The Genius Grant.” Whitehead has also written for The New York Times, Salon, Vibe, Spin, and Newsday. He’s taught at top schools in and around New York City: New York University, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Princeton University. He has also taught at the University of Houston and Wesleyan University, and had writing residencies at Vassar College, the University of Richmond, and the University of Wyoming.
Whitehead has to date written eight books—six novels, a collection of essays about New York City (The Colossus of New York, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), and a memoir about participating in the 2011 World Series of Poker (The Noble Hustle). His first novel, The Intuitionist (1999), was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and won the Quality Paperback Book Club’s New Voices Award. John Henry Days (2001) received the Young Lions Fiction Award and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Apex Hides the Hurt (2006) won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and Sag Harbor (2009) was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Whitehead is a 2000 Whiting Award winner and has also received the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship (2007), the Dos Passos Prize (2012), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2013). Image credit: Colson Whitehead at the 2009 Texas Book Festival in Austin, via Wikimedia, copyright Larry D. Moore.
Lorraine Hansberry was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Her most famous work is A Raisin in the Sun, the name of which is a reference to the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem (A Dream Deferred).” The play, which debuted in 1959, chronicles an African-American family living in a run-down home in the south side of Chicago that attempts to improve their lives after receiving a substantial life insurance payout after a relative's death. The play deals with racial injustice, integration, poverty and economic mobility, ethnic pride, and the pursuit of the American dream. Much of the play echoes real-life events surrounding Hansberry v. Lee (1940), a Fair Housing Act lawsuit involving Hansberry’s family.
The play’s predominantly black cast made it a difficult sell for funding at the time, but it opened to very positive reviews and continues to be considered a pivotal production in American theater. The original cast starred Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil, who were nominated as Best Actor and Actress at the Tony Awards in 1960. The production was also nominated for Best Play and Best Direction. A Raisin in the Sun saw two Broadway revivals: one in 2004, starring Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, and Phylicia Rashad (who also reprised their roles for a 2008 TV movie); and one in 2014, starring Denzel Washington and Sophie Okonedo, that won three Tony Awards. It was also a West End production in 1959, and was performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2010. An acclaimed film version was made in 1961, for which Hansberry wrote the screenplay, starring the original Broadway cast. A musical version of the play, Raisin, ran for two years on Broadway beginning in 1973 (with its book written by Hansberry’s ex-husband) and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930, the youngest of four children. Her family achieved a certain kind of fame after buying a home in a mostly white neighborhood, which collectively made legal attempts to force them out in the case Hansberry vs. Lee. The case made its way to the Supreme Court. The Hansberrys were a well-respected family and were friendly with renowned intellectuals such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson. Hansberry graduated from Englewood High School in 1948. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was incredibly politically active, and briefly studied painting at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico in 1949. In 1951 she moved to Harlem, studied writing at the New School, and continued her activism work, focusing primarily on underprivileged families fighting evictions. That same year, she joined the staff at the Freedom newspaper, where she continued professional relationships with Robeson (founder of the newspaper) and Du Bois. Most of her work focused on American civil rights struggles and global anti-colonialism. In 1953, she married Robert Nemiroff, a prominent publisher and songwriter, though it is believed that Hansberry was a closeted lesbian. Nemiroff’s success allowed Hansberry to write full-time. The two did separate in 1957, and divorced in 1964, but continued to work together throughout the rest of Hansberry’s life. A lifelong smoker, Hansberry died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 34. Paul Robeson was one of the eulogizers at her funeral, and messages from James Baldwin and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. were also recited.
Only one more of Hansberry’s plays was performed onstage during her lifetime. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window premiered on Broadway in 1964, but was met with mixed reviews, and closed nearly three months after its opening. Hansberry considered Les Blancs to be her most important play. It was finished by Nemiroff after her death and debuted on Broadway in 1970, to heavy criticism. Les Blancs and two of Hansberry’s other plays were compiled in a book edited by Nemiroff and first published in 1972. Her autobiography, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, was also completed posthumously, and published in 1969. Nina Simone released a song in tribute to Hansberry under the same title that same year. Two elementary schools in New York City are named for Hansberry, in the Bronx and in St. Albans, Queens. Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University has a first-year female dorm named after her, and she has also been honored in San Francisco with the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. In 1999, she was added to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, and to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2013. Image credit: Fair Use, via Wikimedia.
MK Asante is an author, hip hop artist, filmmaker, and professor. He reached notoriety with his memoir Buck (2013), the story of his life as a teenager on the tough streets of his Philadelphia neighborhood, as his family fell apart. Readers were inspired by his story of self-discovery through self-education, as he found his voice through writing at the age of sixteen. The book had immediate positive critical reception, with stellar reviews from NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Book Review, and even poet Maya Angelou, who called the book “a story of surviving and thriving with passion, compassion, wit, and style.” Buck was selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers list and was an LA Times Summer pick. It won numerous awards, including Best New Book of 2013 from Baltimore Magazine, and the 2014 In the Margins Book Award.
Molefi Kete Asante, Jr. was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1982. His parents are American—his father is African-American scholar Molefi Kete Asante, and his mother is choreographer and professor Kariamu Welsh. He and his older brother were raised in north Philadelphia. Asante had a difficult time growing up in a neighborhood in decay—his older brother was arrested, his father was often absent, and his mother in poor health. He struggled with drugs and gang affiliation. Due largely to all the turmoil in his life, he had problems in school. He eventually enrolled in an alternative high school where he discovered his love of writing. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at Lafayette College, and his MFA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.
Asante published three books before the release of his memoir: two collections of poetry, Like Water Running Off My Back (2002) and Beautiful. And Ugly Too (2005), as well as a non-fiction book, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop (2008), about musical subculture and politics. After Buck’s critical reception, Asante received a Sundance Institute Feature Film Program grant to adapt it into a movie, which is currently in development. He wrote and produced the independent documentary 500 Years Later (2005), which won Best Film at the 2005 Berlin Black Film Festival and the 2007 UNESCO/Zanzibar International Film Festival "Breaking the Chains" Award. He also directed the documentary The Black Candle (2008), which was written and narrated by Maya Angelou. His debut album is a hip hop companion to his memoir called Buck: The Original Book Soundtrack (2015). Asante has given lectures and performances in over 25 countries and at many prestigious institutions, including Yale University, Vassar College, Harvard University, and the British Library. He is currently an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Film at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, having received tenure at twenty-six.
The youngest person on our list, we will surely have much more to read and hear from him in the future! Image credit: Throwacoup via Wikipedia Commons.
James Baldwin was an essayist, novelist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His most famous work, amongst many, is Go Tell It On the Mountain, a semi-autobiographical novel originally published in 1953. The story follows a young man growing up in Harlem with an abusive, fanatically religious stepfather. There are also subtle references to homosexuality, as well as feeling out of step with the rest of society. The book mirrors much of Baldwin’s own struggles and conflicts within his religious and familial life. Though controversial at the time of its release, the book has been long considered a classic. Time Magazine named it one of the 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005. In 1984, Go Tell It On the Mountain was adapted into a TV movie for ABC, in an attempt to recreate the success of 1977’s Roots.
James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York. He grew up poor with his mother and siblings, who had left Baldwin's biological father due to his drug abuse. His stepfather was a preacher and, as Baldwin’s work would suggest, was very strict with the children to say the least. While still a child, Baldwin experienced racially-based harassment from police in his neighborhood. He attended elementary school at P.S. 24, where he wrote the school song. He went to middle school at Frederick Douglass Junior High, where he was influenced by Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen and was encouraged to serve as editor of the school newspaper. Baldwin graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School, where he was the literary editor of the school magazine, but suffered through regular verbal abuse from other students based on his race. He began to have a complicated relationship with religion around the age of 17, due to poor treatment from his stepfather, and his realization of his sexuality. He saw religion as a mirror of black oppression, a theme that would appear many times in his work.
As a young man, Baldwin spent much time in Greenwich Village, and developed long-lasting friendships with painter Beauford Delaney and actor Marlon Brando. By age 24, he had become disillusioned with American racism. He became an expatriate in France, where he would eventually spend most of the latter part of his life. However, Baldwin returned to the U.S. in the summer of 1957. He wrote a number of published essays on the black Civil Rights Movement, toured across America lecturing on activism and socialism, and by 1963 was considered one of the movement’s most prominent spokesmen. He worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr., and was friends with Langston Hughes, Nina Simone, and Lorraine Hansberry. He and Hansberry, along with Kenneth Clark and Lena Horne, were invited to speak with Robert F. Kennedy to lobby for more civil rights legislation. Baldwin eventually grew distant from the movement; one of the reasons was an outward hostility towards members of the LGBTQ community.
James Baldwin published nearly 20 books over the course of his career. Among the most prominent are Giovanni’s Room (1956), an influential work for its direct narrative on male homosexuality and bisexuality, and Notes of a Native Son (1955), his first collection of essays that were previously published in such magazines as Harper’s, Partisan Review, and The New Leader. He collaborated on other projects, such as A Rap on Race, a transcript of conversations between him and anthropologist Margaret Mead. At the time of his death in 1987, Baldwin was still working on the manuscript for Remember This House, a memoir of his role in the civil rights movement. This manuscript was the inspiration and basis for Raoul Peck's 2016 Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Baldwin’s later works have recently seen a resurgence in the zeitgeist for their focus on LGBTQ issues, and overall his writngs have remained a popular part of American literature. The Library of America published a two-volume collection of his works edited by Toni Morrison in 1998, Early Novels & Stories and Collected Essays. The National James Baldwin Literary Society, honoring his legacy, was founded in 1985; a 2005 United States Postal Service stamp bore his likeness; and, on what would’ve been his 90th birthday, the street where he was born (128th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues) was named “James Baldwin Place.” Image credit: Portrait of James Baldwin by Lyle Suter, at the Langston Hughes Community Library.
In honor of African-American History Month, Queens Library’s Culture Connection will host four special events at Central Library in Jamaica showcasing the diverse role of music in the African-American experience.
As part of this series, we’re pleased to welcome Joe Okonkwo to Central on Saturday, February 4 for a discussion of his debut novel, Jazz Moon, which The Danish Girl author David Ebershoff calls "a passionate, alive, and original novel about love, race, and jazz in 1920s Harlem and Paris—a moving story of traveling far to find oneself." Joe has also selected songs from the Harlem Renaissance that award-winning pianist Hila Kulik will bring to life during the program, and guest vocalist Candice Hoyes will perform jazz standards from the era as well.
Joe Okonkwo is a Pushcart Prize nominee who has had stories published in a variety of print and online venues, including Promethean, Penumbra Literary Magazine, Chelsea Station, Shotgun Honey, and Best Gay Stories 2015. In addition to his writing career, he is the Prose Editor for the Queens journal Newtown Literary and Editor of Best Gay Stories 2017. Joe has worked in theater as an actor, stage manager, director, playwright, and youth theater instructor. He earned a BA in Theater from the University of Houston, and an MFA in Creative Writing from City College of New York. He is also a proud resident of Queens.
Joe was kind enough to answer some questions for us before his upcoming author event.
What role have libraries played in your life?
Two of my significant early life experiences happened in libraries. The first was discovering D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths in the sixth grade. I was fascinated by the stories, really loved them. But my classmates told me the book was stupid and that I was stupid for reading it. That was the first time that I realized that people are often frightened of anything outside the realm of their own experience or comfort zone. The second was finding James Baldwin's Another Country in my high school library. I had heard about it and knew it dealt with gay relationships and interracial relationships and was excited to find it in my strict, all-boys, Jesuit high school library. It was the first gay book I ever read. I wasn't "out" yet. This was the eighties—before Will and Grace, before the words "marriage" and "equality" were used in the same sentence. The characters became my friends for the duration of the read and I was depressed when I finished the book.
Why did you choose 1920s Harlem and Paris, and the Harlem Renaissance, as the setting for your debut novel?
If I could go back in time to any era, it would be the Harlem Renaissance. Such a rich period culturally, artistically, politically. It was the first time that people realized that black was beautiful—and marketable. Blacks made strides in music, theater, the visual arts, literature. The political activism of the Harlem Renaissance laid the groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties. But I'm careful not to romanticize the era. It was also a time of extreme difficulty for blacks because of poverty, Jim Crow, lynchings, and pervasive racial discrimination. Still, it was a time of great progress and the Harlem Renaissance gave us cultural riches like the poetry of Langston Hughes, the earthy blues of Bessie Smith, and the vibrant paintings of Archibald Motley and Lois Mailou Jones.
What can our customers expect at your author event on February 4? How did you choose Hila Kulik and Candice Hoyes to join you for this program?
Expect an afternoon of good literature that (hopefully) transports you back to a great historical era, insightful discussion about the Harlem Renaissance, and a sampling of the fantastic music of that period! Hila and Candice were suggested to me and I'm excited and grateful they agreed to join this event.
You’ve selected songs from the Harlem Renaissance to accompany your author event, and even included a Jazz Moon playlist on your website. What are your thoughts on the role of music in the African-American experience, and in the lives of queer people as well?
That's a huge question that I don't think I can totally answer here. But I guess that any culture—and particularly any culture that faces extreme bigotry—uses art as expression and escape. And the more challenging the bigotry and its effects, the deeper those artists go in order to create those vehicles for expression and escape.
You’re the Prose Editor for Newtown Literary, a journal featuring work by Queens-based writers. Can you talk more about the Newtown Literary Alliance and how it supports the literary arts in Queens?
We only publish writers who live in Queens or have a very strong Queens connection. So often Manhattan gets all the credit for everything, and the "outer boroughs" get short shrift. Newtown Literary aims to regain some balance. We publish poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We're not overly concerned about genre—we just want to see good writing. We're also active in the community. We host a weekend-long event called Queens Writes. It's held at various locations around the borough where participants are inspired to come and write for a few hours in a community setting. We also host a series of free creative writing classes at Queens Library for people of all writing levels. I'll be teaching one in May.
What other books in addition to Jazz Moon would you recommend to people who want to learn more about the Harlem Renaissance?
When Harlem Was in Vogue by David Levering Lewis is a fantastic book. It’s basically a comprehensive history of the Harlem Renaissance, with lots of info on the major players: W.E.B. DuBois, Charles Spurgeon Johnson, Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston, Alain Locke. Also The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African American Culture 1920-1930 by Steven Watson, which gives a lot of props to the gay elements of the movement. And biographies of Harlem Renaissance movers and shakers are informative and enjoyable: I've read bios of Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Langston Hughes, Adelaide Hall, and Josephine Baker.
What are some of your favorite books and who are your favorite authors?
Favorite books: Frankenstein, Another Country, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Weary Blues, which was Langston Hughes' first poetry collection. I recently read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and it's like nothing I've ever encountered before. It may take a few years to fully absorb it. I'm currently reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Her sharp style and sparkling dialogue are blowing me away. And I adore almost everything by Toni Morrison.
The latest chapter of a magical series; a psychological thriller; a Pulitzer Prize winner; a dystopian classic; and the newest books from literary icons—these were some of the most popular reads at Queens Library in 2016.
Our customers checked out nearly 13 million items this past year, and these twenty selections were their definite favorites.*
Happy New Year from everyone at Queens Library—and we can’t wait to see what you read in 2017!
* Well, the favorite titles for our adult customers. Queens Library’s most-circulated book in 2016 was, in fact, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney—a wonderful book, but maybe not for everybody!
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
- The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
- The Last Mile, David Baldacci
- 15th Affair, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
- As Time Goes By, Mary Higgins Clark
- Bullseye, James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- The Games, James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
- NYPD Red 4, James Patterson and Marshall Karp
- All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
- Magic, Danielle Steel
- Private Paris, James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
- The Apartment, Danielle Steel
- Property of a Noblewoman, Danielle Steel
- Blue, Danielle Steel
- Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
- Sting, Sandra Brown
- The Obsession, Nora Roberts
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
- First Comes Love, Emily Giffin
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Congratulations to Queens Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott, the Queens Tribune’s 2016 Person of the Year!
In the Tribune’s special issue honoring Dennis Walcott, you can learn more about his background, his life in public service, and his plans for the future of Queens Library, as well as read testimonials from colleagues like Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and others.
“In the spring when Dennis Walcott was announced as the new head of the Queens Library system, the editorial staff was astounded at the breadth of his career in public service. We joked then that in March, we already knew who our person of the year would be,” says the Tribune’s editorial about its selection. “Walcott has found his home once again within the borough of Queens, pouring all of the talents he has developed into creating a library system that will educate, stimulate, and care for the children, families, and residents of the world’s borough. His unwavering commitment to civic causes is an inspiration to us all.”
Read the PDF version of the Queens Tribune’s Person of the Year issue.
We’re proud to welcome pianist, composer, and author Sharp Radway back to Central Library for another Culture Connection concert!
This time, Sharp is bringing our patrons “Music Of The Streets,” a project that pays homage to iconic figures in the world of jazz. Sharp’s concert and presentation on Saturday, November 19 will focus on “The Queens Chapter” and introduce our guests to the rich jazz legacy of Queens.
Sharp Radway, who currently resides in Brooklyn, has worked with several jazz luminaries, including Yusef Lateef, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, James Spaulding, and many more. He appeared onscreen with Mos Def, Beyonce Knowles, Cedric the Entertainer, and several others in the film Cadillac Records and acted and performed in a production of the historic Off-Broadway play The Connection under the direction of Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina, who also directed the first production of the play in 1959. Sharp serves as the music director, pianist, and arranger for The Celebration of Lionel Hampton Big Band and The New York City Ska Orchestra. Staying true to his roots, he continues to play in church regularly, serving as Music Director for a local church in Brooklyn.
Sharp was kind enough to talk with us before his upcoming concert.
This is your second visit to Queens Library, and we’re glad to have you back! What was your experience like playing here last time?
Thanks for having me back. I always appreciate the opportunity to share music, so I am grateful to be back! My last experience at the library was great; I performed a tribute to the music of Elmo Hope, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk. The attendees seemed to really enjoy and appreciate the music. They also gained a lot from the history that we shared with them about those three piano giants.
What role have libraries played in your life?
For me, libraries have been a source for knowledge, a place of study, a quiet refuge, and also the place where I had a lot of my early music listening experiences. As a young child, I used to go to the library to avail myself of a music collection much larger than the one I had at home. I listened to different artists from different genres on LPs, 45s, and cassettes at the library. I still have very fond memories of those moments, which will always be cherished.
In addition to being a performer, you are also a music teacher. Can you talk about that role and how important it is to you?
I've taught private piano instruction, theory, ear training, jazz ensemble classes, and more, to preschoolers, senior citizens, and everyone in between. Teaching is an essential thing for me. It keeps me fine-tuned and makes me a better student, which, in turn, puts me in a position to learn more and grow as an individual.
Can you talk more about your “Music of the Streets” project? What inspired it, and what can we expect from “The Queens Chapter?”
Absolutely. "Music of the Streets" is now in its second year. It's a project I put together that honors jazz icons from various cities and neighborhoods—namely Detroit; Philadelphia; Queens; Sugar Hill, in Harlem; Brooklyn; Wilmington, DE; Newark; and many more. Its mission is to call attention to legendary jazz artists from these areas and their compositions. The project also presents original compositions written in honor of these iconic figures. The Queens Chapter of the project features artists primarily from that borough and pays homage to musicians from Hollis, East Elmhurst, Jamaica, Corona, St. Albans, Bayside, Flushing, and Springfield Gardens. We'll be presenting their music set against the backdrop of a historical account of their lives, informed by their significance to the art form. I've also composed some music specifically for this Saturday's presentation that will serve as commemorative pieces for a couple of the artists we'll be discussing.
What are some of your favorite books and who are your favorite authors?
The Complete Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, The Speaker's Quote Book by Roy B. Zuck, The Story of Jazz by Marshall W. Stearns, The Destruction Of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams, The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Classon, and I am a lover of the Bible.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a professional musician?
My most humble but sincere advice would be to read a copy of my book Musicianship 101 (What They Don't Tell You In School) and put everything in there into action immediately.
Which performers and albums have inspired your career as a musician and composer?
Wow! I don't know how to answer that. I am inspired by most musicians—inspired to do by some, inspired in what not to do by others. Some pianists who both inspire and influence my playing are Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Art Tatum, Ellis Larkins, Red Garland, and Ahmad Jamal. My greatest inspirations, however, are God and life itself.
Queens Library is proud to present “Festival an Koulè (Festival of Colors),” a six-week exhibit of twenty established and emerging artists who represent the rich culture of Haiti.
During the six weeks of the festival, we’ll introduce you to some of the participating artists so you can learn more about them, their work, and Haitian art in general.
Our first artist is Chantal Paret Antoine. Chantal was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, a few months after the election of Francois Duvalier in 1957. Five years later, she was forced into hiding with her mother and sister until being reunited with her father, a high-ranking colonel in the Haitian army, in New York in 1965. Chantal’s love of Haitian art was sparked by her maternal grandfather, Cesar Muller, who was part of the “Haitian Renaissance” at DeWitt Clinton Peters’ Le Centre D’Art in Port-au-Prince that introduced Haitian art to the world.
Chantal received a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Art Therapy from Hofstra University and a BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Interior Architecture and Design. Chantal has served as Library Planner-Senior Designer in Queens Library’s Capital Facilities Management department for the past nineteen years, involved in the planning, design, and interior outfitting of all existing branches and new library construction.
What motivates you and inspires you artistically?
My confidence to draw and paint originates from my memories of bonding with my grandfather. He was quite disciplined and strict; however, he was quite adept at anything he wanted to do. He would help me with my homework covers, and I learned to have confidence in my abilities from him. I still have one of the covers we worked on, now in a frame, and it symbolizes, for me, the start. My grandfather was a pharmacist in Cap-Haïtien, but he painted prolifically and quite well, and did for a while participate in the famed Centre D’Art. I love to see his name as one of the first generations of Haitian artists that added to the strength of Haitian art throughout the world. I especially get a real kick out of seeing his name in the many Haitian art books that I collect, and I wonder what he would say if he could see that I have kept it up. The legacy and strength of Haitian art historically motivates me, initially and consistently. Haiti, and its incredible “Joy of Art,” despite all of its adversities and material poverty, is truly what inspires me.
What type of art are you showing during the festival?
For this collection, I have selected only drawings, using oil pastels on textured watercolor paper. My style is more in the Traditional or Naïve School; what I am drawn to in my art is that aspect of Haiti that I have a few memories of, the humble scenes that move me, the vendors, the kids playing with marbles, the everyday life which still, to this day, happens in Haiti. Haiti is in many ways still untouched and not too modern, really. My drawings tap into a sense of longing and nostalgia, and depict traditional subjects using a modern medium.
Is this your first exhibit? If not, where have you shown your art before?
Although I have a real “day job” (not to mean that art for me is not real or work!), I have been quite lucky to show my work in a few exhibits. My first exhibit was a solo show, with 45 paintings, at the African American Museum in Hempstead, Long Island. I have had exhibits at the Bread and Roses Gallery in Manhattan, the International Monetary Fund Gallery in Washington—it was the first Haitian exhibit they sponsored, with five artists, and I was the only woman—and at the Haitian Consulate in New York, a “women artists only” show called “Peinture a la Feminin.” My art traveled to Haiti, and was shown at the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien, as part of an exhibit of Haitian artists living abroad, and was published in the accompanying catalogue Dreams of Haiti in Colors. That was really exciting. Other places include the Waterford Library in Connecticut; the service agency Haitian-American Family of Long Island; and three large murals that I painted at Chez Antoine, a restaurant my husband owned in Baldwin.
How does your art embody the spirit and culture of Haiti?
I think the Jacques Roumain quote that I shared in the Festival an Koulè brochure sums it up for me: “If you are of a country, if you are born there, then you have it in your eyes, your skin, your hands, with the hair of its trees, the flesh of its soil, the bones of its stones, the blood of its rivers, its sky, its taste, its men and women.” And, of course, that all comes through in its music, food, resilience, pride, and art!
Keyi Ble (The Wheat Pickers) by Chantal Paret Antoine.
What do you want our patrons to learn about Haitian art in particular?
The inexplicable volume of artists and art that comes from that country—which is so often maligned and depicted as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere,” always with its hand out begging for aid, suffering one disaster after another—is a sign that Haiti is much more than what is known. Haiti, the first country born of a slave revolution, is a country with a rich history and amazing legacy that is communicated through its art. Haitian art is the best ambassador of Haiti.
How do you feel about showing your art to the Queens Library community?
I am torn, so excited and a bit nervous. I am wearing four roles at this exhibit, as an employee of the Library, a member of the selection committee for this exhibit, an exhibiting artist, and a Haitian woman proud of her culture. I want my library colleagues and the Queens community to see the country I was born in, differently than it is always portrayed. I would like the exhibit to surprise our patrons with the beauty and depth of expression of these incredible artists, many of whom live in the same Queens communities. And I am so proud to be with the artists that are participating in this exhibit.
Thank you to everyone who submitted poems to Queens Library’s Summer Poetry Contest!
All the entries had to reflect the 2016 Summer Reading theme of “Get in the Game.”
You’ve had a chance to read the poetry of our four winners, and see the pictures from our awards ceremony. Now, we’d like to share the poems from the three honorable mentions in each age category.
To be selected for this recognition shows how truly talented all these poets are!
Grades 4-5 Honorable Mentions: Samyuktha Arvind, Jason Ramdeo, and Erin Wong
Grades 6-8 Honorable Mentions: Jaeden Casasnovas, Syeda Rahman, and Sujay Sundar
Grades 9-12 Honorable Mentions: Malachi Mitchell, Sara Nordlicht, and Emily Scarpati
Post High School/Adult Honorable Mentions: Felicia Hang, Arlene Levine, and Francie Scanlon
Grades 4-5 Honorable Mentions
Fun in the Sun
by Samyuktha Arvind
Get into the game,
Get into the action,
Get into the fun!
It’s time for a run in the sun!
Go to the beach
With sand beneath your toes,
And water in your hair.
Make a fort
Spring leaks of water!
Sky-dive
Through Paris
And visit
The Eiffel Tower!
Bungee-jump through
A safari
In Africa!
Make a hoverboard
And fly on it,
Visit the world
And get an award!
Breakdance through a
Karate class!
Climb Mt. Everest
In my new pink heels!
Seeing how a
Volcano feels!
Going to India
And bringing back
Sand,
Seeing why milkshakes
Taste so bland!
Order a triple-scoop cone
For me,
And an order of
Iced tea!
Swing into the park,
Landing on the bark!
Load into a baseball game,
(I tried the cannon,)
Blast into space, taste the
Cotton candy clouds,
There is no too much fun now,
It is time to get into the game!
Offense or Defense
by Jason Ramdeo
Offense
Courageous, Confident
Passing, Running, Scoring
Touchdown, Goal...Interception, Block
Taking, Tackling, Stopping
Jeering, Taunting
Defense
First Tryout
by Erin Wong
Come on! It's basketball tryouts!
"You can do this," My mom shouts!
Slowly, I walked to the coach in the court.
She started calling names from her board.
The coach said her name was Mrs. Bagwerds.
Her shirt spelled the team's name backwards!
Cheerily she said to me, "Get in a game!
By the way, what is your name?"
Pass, dribble, dribble, pass,
I learned these all very fast.
Steal, dribble, dribble, shoot!
I kept on missing the hoop.
So many times, I missed
And I wanted to quit!
Sweat dripped on my neck,
But I didn't care to take a rest!
My coach taught me, "Aim at the backboard!"
I kept on trying and finally I scored!!!
Tweet! Tweet! The whistle blows,
My coach said, "Now it's time to go!"
What a great, first game!
Grades 6-8 Honorable Mentions
Get In The Game
by Jaeden Casasnovas
When you wail and you cry just to get what you want
That is not how you try to get fame
Be in it
To win it
Set yourself apart
Be ready to get in the game!
Live your life for the moment, no time to resist
Just play it, don’t wait for next time
Be in it
To win it
Because you have the smarts
Be ready to get in the game!
Do your very best and have good sportsmanship
Don’t brag, or you’ll be very sorry
Be in it
To win it
We all have your back
Just be ready to get in the game!
More than a book
by Syeda Rahman
A book is an adventure
A book is a dream
Where you can visit places
You've never been
You can see gardens
Visit castles and more
When you have never even
Gone past your door
You can meet people
Both good and bad
And the end to their quests
Could be happy or sad
A book is just a book
But you'll find it's so much more
If only you know where to look
A book can open doors
The Game of Life
by Sujay Sundar
You roll the dice,
Take your chances but be wise.
The Game of Life,
Can be fun without strife.
To Play hide and seek,
Scaling tall peaks.
To Swing and sway,
With birds chirping each day.
To talk and walk,
But always on the sidewalk.
Time for flowers and trees,
And feeling the cool breeze.
To seek Good books to read,
Learning about a good deed.
To think and write,
On topics fresh and bright.
To be healthy and eat,
More veggies and wheat.
To stay fit and play,
Keeping doctors away.
The Game of life is good,
And forever it should.
It is eternal and fun,
And is never really done.
Grades 9-12 Honorable Mentions
Can You Feel It?
by Malachi Mitchell
I can feel it
It's right there
Almost in my hand
It's now or never
Failure's not the plan
Success is at the end of the path
I'm getting closer
But something seems to be holding me back
Laziness and procrastination
Blocking my drive and determination
Keeping me from getting my blessings
But still I let myself entertain the distractions
Have I forgotten my lessons?
I was told to reach for stars
Well now I'm reaching for it all
And I'm not gonna fall
Only thing I'm letting drop are my chains
Getting my head in the game
Putting a legacy to my name
Crazy how much can change in a blink of an eye
A year ago I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life
Now I can't go a day without wanting to write
I can feel it
Now's my time
And I'm ready to shine
Are you ready to shine?
Are you ready to spread your wings and fly?
Are you ready to be the best you can be?
Then take this sincere advice from me
Drop your chains
And get in the game
Reach for the stars
Don't be afraid of the change
It might be hard
But life is short
And it's better to do it now than to leave it for "some day."
The Game
by Sara Nordlicht
I ought to write a poem, I think,
One that flows, with words that link.
Pertaining to the pertinent theme:
Get in the game, get in the game.
"This is hard," aloud I say,
"Maybe I cannot write, anyway."
An impossible task this does seem:
Get in the game, get in the game.
"I must write something down," I voice,
Yes, I still can make this choice.
The maxim floating around in my head:
Get in the game, get in the game.
I put pen to paper and write,
An end does not appear in sight.
Still I remember the words that were said:
Get in the game, get in the game.
I needed to write, I knew I ought,
A poem on paper being what I sought.
I knew I would give up, all too soon:
Get in the game, get in the game.
I thought that with words I could express,
Yet with all this time, I still digress.
A message clear as the light of the moon:
Get in the game, get in the game.
So before you sit and cry the blues,
Think of the talent within your own shoes.
Make the right choice and decide:
Get in the game, get in the game.
Don't deem impossible, your big dream,
Pull yourself together and join a team.
Bring some friends along for the ride:
Get in the game, get in the game.
Cans of Expired Pie Filling
by Emily Scarpati
Every time you insert yourself into the game
You shatter your bones or your skull explodes and you
Think it is the worst day of your life,
But how foolish you humans are
Much worse days are to follow this one in which you
Lost your game
On the worst day of your life
Your golden mother shakes with rage like lava as she hurls
Hundreds of glass shards at your head
You try to halt them with your catcher’s glove but your
Young hands get sliced
It’s Father’s Day and the new Prius crashed into your
Garage’s aging shelving unit, unleashing a tsunami of
Boxed lasagna and cans of expired pie filling
Your head fills with lime pudding as the events progress
The gods above which you hardly believe in desire
For your throbbing red chest organ to be made aware,
You are a miniscule entity in a scene never to be
Included in that independent film
If only your kneepads were applicable to your heart
Oh, volleyball player, on the most torturous twenty-four
Hour block of your time on this polluted star,
Your foundation crumbles to the sea
You wish that you were back at the stadium
In which you lost your baseball
Much better it is to put yourself in the ring
Post High School/Adult Honorable Mentions
Remember You
by Felicia Hang
They say you've got to be in it to win it
and there's nothing more true
If you want to see it happen, it's all up to you
Getting in the game is not always about winning,
It's showing up, and being willing
Take a chance, cause you never know,
You may end up finishing,
Even if you start out slow
Challenge yourself, be all that you can,
Cause in the end, the power is in your hands
Be yourself, have courage to be true.
Begin each day, with hopeful anew.
And remember, to always be you.
Playing Catch with John Lennon
by Arlene Levine
The field is dark…
The pitcher prepares to throw
A crowd of catchers crouches, the only
audience invited to this dream game
Something soars; we all
run to receive, yet it is me
who captures, not a ball but a heart
And the pitcher is John,
of the words and the songs
Repeatedly he tosses; I reach
and clasp each heart to mine, my soul
opening in awe and joy
while I wonder:
now that I have caught
to whom must I throw?
I wake with a peaceful feeling
I grab my pen
Words begin
The field is dark...
Player's Prayer
by Francie Scanlon
YO, shot put pecadiller of pawn'd placements
YO, race walker outpacing the rabbit to heel and toe triumphs
YO, would be shadow blade-runner pass the baton
YO, racquet ball wall'd fortress of fire, unleash that furl of fabulous furor
YO, back-splashing, butter-fly sliding, air-brush'd time-tyrant of water's pool palaces
YO, archer with more targets than buzzhead bows can magnet-bulls-eye one for ages by-passed and centuries yet imagined
YO, tennis player sizzle slice serves that punctuate the fault-lines of your opponent's baseline blues
YO, golfer on the bunker for the birdie hole in one, too
YO, hoop master drop it like it's hot, until it's not and drape your dreams with the
net of gods
YO, diver machine blast your lungs with the oxygen of eternity, count your blessings and catapult dive daring destiny
YO, cyclist burn the road ahead of you with the steel of your drive and the buoyancy of your foot speed gyration
YO, boxer deflect, distract, drive punch when and where it matters 'til your spar mate is embroidered in the ropes
YO, badminton ballerina first break '30' and keep frying those half-moon eggs in the sky
YO, fencer fake a slide, foible a thrust, do what you must but first flaunt ferocious fearlessness
YO, ALL, blow a kiss to the boys of summer, the polo-ists, tug-of-war-farers of yesterday no longer reckoned contenders.
YO, ALL, in your, our, my game: PLAY BOLD, BEAUTIFUL, BOUNTIFUL.
Love the finish line.
All poems copyright 2016 Queens Library and the individual authors.