Cultural rhythms of summer reading.

This summer has the most promising crop of black books ever. It is exciting to discover that as many titles are being published this summer as were formerly published in Black History Month, but I am even more excited to see that institutions of black "word" culture have expanded tremendously and become solidly entrenched as summer activities and destinations. The National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta and the Harlem Book Fair (pages 22 through 25) are among many superb cultural gatherings across the United States that are doing "live" what we at BIBR work hard to do in print--bring you books and authors of the African Diaspora.

Even with the growth in black titles published, not many black authors appear on national best-seller lists. But many black characters do--characters created by white authors. Earni Young looks at this phenomenon (page 26). As we continue to celebrate our 5th anniversary, we are glad to recognize other black publishing enterprises that also have something to celebrate, like the 10th anniversary of BET's Arabesque (page 46).

As I consider the exponential increase in black titles published and the even wider breadth of genres to which black voices are contributing, I remember times when that growth was incremental, when black writers' voices seemed almost silenced. That has been the state of fiction and nonfiction by gay and lesbian black authors, but changes have begun. Because BIBR was founded to be a community in print, and our commitment is to cover everything black authors write, BIBR's editors are excited to see these writers finding their voice and their way into print. We introduce a new department OUT (page 39) with a column by Kai Wright on the Schonrburg Center for Research in Black Culture's efforts to compile a Black Gay and Lesbian Archive. We applaud able custodians of these overlooked literary works. Our overview piece on works with gay and lesbian themes from as far back as the Harlem Renaissance (POETIC LICENSE, page 36) opens a first page in a missing chapter of black literary history. We welcome submissions from writers, reviewers and publishers for future OUT columns.

Finally, I'd like to thank Aisha Tyler for beautifying our cover this summer, I appreciate her even more for putting her keen intellect and Ivy League education to good use in her book, Swerve (page 12). BIBR's editors have observed the convergence of TV and books, and are pleased to feature an entertainer/author who has mastered both platforms. Tyler wrote her own book proposal and wordsmithed the chapters herself when so many other celebrity titles are conceived by agents or editors and then ghost-written.

Enjoy your summer and let this issue of BIBR guide you through the huge bumper crop of reading choices.