The Wit, Wisdom, and Genius of Ja A. Jahannes - Bright Skylark Literary Productions


Ja A. Jahannes (right) and Aberjhani signing copies of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance at Barnes and Noble in Savannah, Georgia. (photo courtesy Bright Skylark Literary Productions)


Any attempt to write a biographical essay about someone as multi-talented and prolific as the late Ja A. Jahannes would be incomplete without immersion––or re-immersion––into a comprehensive sample of his works. In Jahannes’ case that would mean listening to diverse genres of music, going through numerous powerful poems, revisiting provocative essays, and revisiting intensely-original
memoirs, novels, and plays.

Getting it all done in the short amount of time allotted by deadlines would not be possible but enjoying the challenge would be. In the course of rising to meet that challenge by penning the essay 5 Ways to be Geniuses Together, Celebrating Ja Jahannes, I naturally looked for suitable quotes to include with the essay.

Upon finding more than I could use, I was inspired to create the three quotation graphics posted with the article. From that point, it wasn’t much of a leap to realize that our modern shell-shocked world could possibly benefit tremendously from a collection of quips and witticisms distilled from the glittering torrent of fiction, sermons, librettos, stories, papers, etc., that seemed to flow with such ceaseless determination from Jahannes’ inspired soul. A good title for the collection might be The Wit, Wisdom, and Genius of Ja A. Jahannes. Moreover, if I were a traditional publisher taking on such a project I would push for both an illustrated hardback edition and a primarily text paperback edition.

The Notion of Being Geniuses Together

The first part of the 5 Ways to be Geniuses Together essay contains a short discussion on my allusion to the notion of collective genius. Specifically, I identity the following as a central theme binding the larger body of multi-discipline works by Jahannes:

You can enjoy the entire free read by clicking here:
The Wit, Wisdom, and Genius of Ja A. Jahannes - Bright Skylark Literary Productions

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Dream to Book: How I Wrote Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah

Image
Like many of the real-life characters in its pages, including me, the author, Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah is a survivor. It has endured several powerful hurricanes, withstood the terror of too many computer crashes to count, eluded theft, and dodged falling ceilings. The real miracle is the book not only survived these successions of turmoil but managed to steadily evolve with the addition of my artwork to the nonfiction stories. To appreciate how truly exceptional that is, please note that when I first began writing the book I did not consider myself a visual artist of any kind at all: not an amateur digital craftsman, acrylic stylist, photographer, or portraitist. I was the author of Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player and co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance beginning a new literary adventure. Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah started with the experience of an actual dream in 1989. It had to do with a group of friends banding toge
Read more

The Year of James Baldwin Now in Full Classic Literary Swing (part 1) - by Aberjhani

Image
Author James Baldwin in St. Paul de Vence, France, 1976. (photo by Dmitri Kasterine) “It has always been much easier (because it has always seemed much safer) to give a name to the evil without than to locate the terror within. And yet, the terror within is far truer and far more powerful than any of our labels: the labels change, the terror is constant.” –James Baldwin, from  the essay Nothing Personal Members of New York City’s cultural arts community made a rare kind of decision earlier this year and the results of that decision continue to generate exceptional events and responses. They–– as in Columbia University School of the Arts, Harlem Stage, and New York Live Arts–– elected to observe The Year of James Baldwin from April 2014 until June 2015 in honor of the late iconoclastic African-American author’s 90th birthday August 2, 2014. Long before he died on December 1, 1987, millions came to recognize the indelible mark of Baldwin’s impact on, and the incredible depth
Read more

iTunes Adds Three Books and Podcast by Aberjhani to the iBookstore

Image
The novel Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World in the iBookstore. The iTunes Store recently added three titles, each in a different literary category, by the American author Aberjhani to its iBookstore, making it possible for the first time to download the books and read them on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The titles include: the paranormal suspense novel Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World ; the travel memoir The American Poet Who Went Home Again ; and the poetry collection The Bridge of Silver Wings (newly updated in hard copy as The River of Winged Dreams ). “I’m usually too immersed in current projects to realize the significance of such a great development right away,” said the author. “So you’ll never hear me claim to be the most techno-savvy writer on the planet, which is why I’m always glad when the work that I stay so busy producing manages to make a place for itself in the world and others welcome it there as well.” In addition to hi
Read more