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Troy
Veteran Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 993
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 02:54 pm: | 
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Essence to Honor Writers, Help Libraries
By Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 12/13/2007 7:30:00 AM
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6511386.html?nid=2286&source=link&rid= 1798855972&
Essence Magazine will honor African-American writers and help public libraries by launching two overlapping initiatives this winter: the Essence Literary Awards and the Save Our Libraries campaign.
The nominees for the awards--in fiction, nonfiction, children's, poetry, commentary/public affairs, memoir and photography--will be selected by the editors of Essence and will be annouced on December 19th. The winners will recieve their awards during Black History Month, on Feb. 7, 2008, at a ceremony in New York city that will also kick off the Save Our Libraries campaign. Emcees Hoda Kotb of the Today Show and Dr. Ian Smith will preside over the event, which will honor the winning writers, as well as a "Storyteller of the Year."
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A_womon
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: A_womon
Post Number: 2030
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 12:40 am: |
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Troy! In case I don't visit here again before then. And with my deadlines looming I'm going to try my best not to!  |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2493
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 11:37 am: |
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Well, this is a promising development. Just when I have vowed to hate Essence forever, they do something positive. I am especially looking forward to hearing more about the libraries campaign. Well, maybe I will never again read the magazine, but still find ways to support causes like this. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 10921
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 01:36 pm: |
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Was it something specific that turned you against Essence, Yvette? Just curious. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2494
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 05:09 pm: |
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Cynique, where do I even begin? Over time the publication just seemed to be a little insulting to my intelligence. I am not really a make-up or glam fashion person. Yet it continues to focus (inordinately, IMO) on such things as expensive cosmetic products and clothes that not many women in real life could afford to or would wear. In general, the magazine seems to exist as if all of its readership lives on either coast--Guess the rest of the country is just for flying over in a plane. Then there were the silly sex articles, stuff I'd expect from Cosmo or even Teen Glamor or something. Very very light on substantive articles of more than a few pages, including stuff on politics. Heavy on the celebrity stuff--but even then failing to ask these folks interesting questions that might actually require thoughtful responses. Instead, these articles often appeared to be things that the celebrities' PR folks could have put out.
Now, in all fairness, perhaps I just wanted things from the publication that it never intended to deliver. And certainly they are not the only magazine to have top celebrity couple lists and the perfect jeans for your butt hips and thighs (real articles on their current website).
But I contrast this with several of the men's magazines I sometime read. Esquire and GC, for example, always have silly columns and unrealistic fashions and tips on improving sex lives and whatnot. But they will also have in-depth, real reporting on a wide range of issues--allowing many pages and columns to adequately tell these stories. The quality of the writing in these publications also seems a bar above what I generally read in Essence.
Well, just a few of my more general gripes. Every time I do end up buying an issue I am usually ticked off at a specific article that I think is just insulting or stupid. I have not subscribed in years. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 10924
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 05:48 pm: |
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I don't subscribe to Essence, either, because it's more like a fashion catalog with articles thrown in as the accesories.
But obviously there is a huge audience for what they are hawking because black women are very much into clothes and hair and make-up, and Essence caters to their love of style and opulence. And we've previously established how the "lite" taste of average black women also spills over into their reading matter, as evidenced by how they aren't captivated by serious literature.
Could be that the average black woman is not deep into political relevancy and intellectual issues because they can't find enough intelligent black men to discuss these things with. 
Just out of habit, a lot of people still express similar disgust with EBONY which I still subscribe to because it has raised the bar and is devoting space to articles that deal with what's timely and important. |
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