Remembering Margaret Walker: Louisville Kentucky reading group pays homage to a late, great author with televised book discussions.Joyce Barnett is a devoted fan of author Margaret Walker Dr. Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander (July 7, 1915 – November 30, 1998) was an African-American poet and author born in Birmingham, Alabama. She wrote as Margaret Walker. One of her most known poems is "For My People". Her father Sigismund C. . When this Louisville, Kentucky  “Louisville” redirects here. For other uses, see Louisville (disambiguation). , poet takes center stage at a coffeehouse or open-mic events, her performance style is frequently likened to Walker's by people who know Walker's work. But when Barnett introduces Walker's name at literary discussions in other venues, she's of ten disappointed to learn that many people don't recognize the name of this late poet and author who is best known for her poem "For My People" (which won the Yale Award for Young Poets in 1952) and Jubilee, a 1965 novel that tells one woman's life story from slavery to freedom. "People that really read know who Margaret Walker is, but a lot of other people don't," says Barnett. "When I mention her name, I often hear 'Oh yeah, she wrote The Color Purple'. And I say 'No, that's Alice.' Being a poet myself, this really bothered me." Barnett had once toyed with the idea of joining a book club and decided le bring Margaret Walker's name back in this fashion. So she organized a small group of six local musicians and artists and limned The Margaret Walker Reading Club. Researching the Author To gather detailed information on Walker, who died in 1998, Barnett contacted the Margaret Walker National Research Center located at Jackson Stale University in Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. State of Mississippi. It is one of the county seats of Hinds County; Raymond is the other county seat. As of the 2000 census Jackson's population was 184,256. , where Walker taught for many years. This cultural preservation and resource center houses significant archival records and personal papers, interprets the African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. experience through various conferences, and funds the Literary Legacy Teaching Institute, a program that encourages educators to prepare lesson plans that introduce students in their district and surrounding counties to the writings of Margaret Walker and other Mississippi writers. "The book club is a great time for socializing among members," says Barnett. "Our schedules are already so busy, but I'd like the group to visit the research center and take a tour sometime in the future." Literary Discussion Showcase While remembering Margaret Walker at their monthly meetings, book club members enjoy reading a diverse selection of general fiction and biographies of black women that includes Volunteer Slavery (Penguin, July 1994) by Jill Nelson; Wrapped in Rainbows (Scribner, December 2002) by Valerie Boyd; and The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker (Scribner, February 2001) by A'Lelia Bundles. Additionally, the group hosts a local television show, which is also named The Margaret Walker Reading Club. The literary showcase, which airs each Monday night at 12:30 P.M. on Insight Communications Insight Communications is the ninth largest cable operator in the United States with approximately 1.4 million customer relationships in the four contiguous states of Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Cable channel 98 in Louisville, Kentucky, enables viewers to tune in as Barnett examines the club's monthly book selections with fellow book group members Sheri Carbone, an actress, and Anna Patterson Anna Patterson is currently the Vice President of Engineering of Cuill. She is famous for having having created the worlds biggest search engine index consisting of 30 billion pages using information from the Internet Archive at Archive.org Career Anna received her Ph.D. , a civil rights activist. "We're having a ball with these televised discussions" says Barnett. "The women on the discussion panel encourage other people to read because they are smart and intelligent. Our discussions prove that there is so much adventure and discovery in reading." Since forming the book club and producing the cable television show that reaches over 400,000 viewers, Barnett has helped to foster a newfound recognition for Margaret Walker. Fans who are curious to learn more about the author, the book club or the TV show constantly approach Barnett for information as she strolls down the street or shops in a neighborhood convenience store. "I figured what better way to remember Margaret Walker than to name the club and the cable show after her," says Barnett. "I can't bring her name back all by myself, but this club is the least that I can do." GROUP PROFILE The Club: The Margaret Walker Reading Club Location: Louisville, KY Book Preferences: Biographies of black women, general fiction, mystery and romance titles Number of Members: Six When They Meet: Second Saturday of each month Last Book Read: The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled until (UTC) due to vandalism. Bantam, June 1997 $13.00, ISBN ISBNabbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-553-38009-5 Group Reaction: Extremely favorable Next Book: Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood Shay Youngblood is a novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. She was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1959. She has been fascinated with the written word since she first learned how to read. Her favorite reoccurring dream as a child was one in which she lived in a library. Riverhead riv·er·head n. The source of a river. Books, January 2001 $12.00, ISBN 1-573-22851-6 How They Choose Books: All books are chosen by the group president and selected from Essence best-sellers list and Black Issues Book Review Pat Houser is a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. at BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received . If you'd like to have your book club mentioned, e-mail her at pathouser@aol.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion