8 Local, National Authors Prepare to Take Over New Orleans for 2nd Annual Black History Month Literary Weekend
NEW ORLEANS (PRWEB) January 11, 2018 -- Meet the World Image Solutions will host eight local and national bestselling authors Feb. 23-24 for two days of workshops, booksignings, music and theater during their Second Annual Black History Month New Orleans Literary Weekend.
“This year’s event is going to be bigger than any other event we’ve done in 2017,” said Rhonda M. Lawson, founder and president of Meet the World Image Solutions, LLC. “We still plan to showcase Louisiana authors, but we also have authors and speakers flying in from as far as Los Angeles to be a part of this event. We are also working with the Orleans Parish School Board to better incorporate our youth.”
The weekend will start with a free writers’ workshop at 11 a.m., Feb. 23 at the Norman Mayer Library at 3001 Gentilly Blvd. The workshop will include a panel discussion on writing tips and the relationship between literacy and African American history. Featured speakers will be motivational speaker Wil Cason and Felicia Young, CEO of Higher Minds of Education. Following the workshop, the authors will visit students at St. Mary’s Academy. A copy of each author’s book will be donated to both the Norman Mayer and St. Mary’s Academy libraries. The signature event for the Literary Weekend will be a literary jazz brunch featuring the New Orleans Jazz Group Yisrael at 10:30 a.m., Feb. 24 at the Tombar Life Center, located at 1683 North Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70116. The brunch will feature Francheska Felder, CEO of SwagHer Magazine, and Rose Bratcher, New Orleans’ first African American Zen monk. Admission is $25 for the first 50 tickets, and $30 in advance. The price includes a gourmet meal and a free book.
The final event of the weekend will be the premiere of Cheatin’ in the Next Room: The Stageplay, which will take place at Xavier University’s Administration Auditorium on the evening of Feb. 24. The play, directed by New Orleans veteran actors Rose Bratcher and Kirk Johnathan, is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Rhonda M. Lawson, and will star New Orleans actor and director Dominque McClellan, Clairica Lange, and Terreze Williams. Also featured will be Jeanette Scott, Teddo November, Amber Ned, Willie Lee, and Demetrius Bradley. Early bird tickets to see Cheatin’ in the Next Room: The Stageplay are sold out, but advance tickets are still on sale for $30. Group rates are also available.
“I am so excited to have such an all-star cast for this performance,” Lawson said. “We have a perfect storm of established actors and newcomers who all bring something special to this story.”
The participating authors for the 2018 Black History Month New Orleans Literary Weekend include Marvin Bryson, screenwriter and author of Expectancy: A Caregiver's Story of Navigating Family Issues Between Retirement and Transition, private chef and business owner Diana Riley, author of Cooking on Purpose: Life Lessons Learned from the Kitchen, inspirational author Felicia Brookins, author of Sister Nadeen’s Ways, inspirational author Lynette Edwards, author of Take Off the Mask, Keisha Lapsley, inspirational author, playwright and CEO of Inherited Kingdom Enterprises, inspirational author Brittany Lenore, author of Blind Faith, Paula Johnson Hutchinson, author and owner of Second to None Salon, and Jasiri Basel, technologist and author of 101 Things I Wish My Father Taught Me. Additional information on the Black History Month New Orleans Literary Weekend can be found on the Meet the World Image Solutions website or by calling 504-505-5894. Tickets for the literary brunch and stageplay are available on Eventbrite.
Lawson has already released the company’s first eighth and ninth grade essay contest application, which can be found on the Meet the World Image Solutions website. One winner will be selected from each grade to receive $100 and scholarship materials sponsored by Higher Minds of Education, LLC. SwagHer Magazine, also an event sponsor, will also publish each winner’s essay on their website. The essay contest is open to students all over the New Orleans area. The deadline to enter is Feb. 9.
“This is an excellent opportunity for our New Orleans students to not only showcase their work, but also meet literary professionals from a variety of backgrounds,” Lawson added.
Meet the World Image Solutions, LLC is a boutique public relations firm that specializes in assisting small business, non-profit organizations, authors, and artists. It was founded Jan. 23, 2017 by author and U.S. Army veteran Rhonda M. Lawson as a vehicle to promote entrepreneurs with smaller advertising budgets. Since its founding, Meet the World has hosted two major literary events and airs Horizons With Meet the World Image Solutions, a literary talk show, on the New Orleans Talk Network each Wednesday at 7 pm CST.
Rhonda Lawson, Meet the World Image Solutions, LLC, http://www.mtwimagesolutions.com, 5045055894, [email protected]
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