June 2014 Quotable Poet Salute to Author Maya Angelou

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Aberjhani, African American Women, African-American authors, Authors frequently mentioned on the web, book reviews, books, Celebrity, celebrity authors, celebrity deaths, Facebook, inspiring quotes, Maya Angelou, modern poets, Nobel Prize in Literature, Oprah Winfrey, President Bill Clinton, Quotable Poet, Quotable Poet Aberjhani, Ranker Lists, Remembering Maya Angelou, social criticism, Social media, South Africa, Twitter, William Clinton, Women Authors, Women's Literature, Womnen Poets

“We are so blessed that she [Maya Angelou] lived during our lifetimes and that we were wise enough to recognize and celebrate her often.”—Aberjhani on Twitter, May 28, 2014

Did you catch how some celebrities on the web called out certain other celebrities on Twitter and FB last week when the Quotable Author-Poet Maya Angelou died? The criticism was that they were just using the amazing writer’s death to collect pings and draw traffic for themselves now that she had passed but a lot of them had never acknowledged her while she lived. Do you think it matters? Or is it never too late to give up some respect for people who have earned it?

One quotable poet who did show Ms. Angelou R-E-S-P-E-C-T while she lived was the author of Journey through the Power of the Rainbow. He tweeted like everybody else when the author died and even got RT by the Oprah Magazine South African edition:
Before Angelou passed, the authors were back-to-back on the Ranker list of 50 Amazing Contemporary International Poets. The original list was supposed to be alphabetical, which would have put the Quotable Poet at number 1, but Angelou has occupied the number 1 position since the list first popped up.

The most we could find on the Internet by the Quotable Poet Aberjhani writing about Maya Angelou was a review of her inauguration poem for President Bill Clinton, On the Pulse of Morning, and his article about the possibility of her winning a Nobel Prize in Literature. The review of the poem is a short one you can check out on LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/work/76843/reviews/9575484 . This is an excerpt from the article on the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was written before Angelou received her Literarian Award:

Although Angelou has never received a Nobel, a Pulitzer Prize, or American Book Award, she is nevertheless: an acknowledged presidential inauguration poet (for William Clinton, 1993); the acclaimed author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in addition to other noted memoirs; an honored actress; a celebrated television literary personality; a life-time appointed Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University; and an all-around lionized icon of letters in her own right. In addition, like [Toni] Morrison, Angelou’s work has been frequently celebrated by [Oprah] Winfrey and the media tycoon has referred to the author as one of her mentors.
—Maya Angelou Long-listed for Nobel Prize in Literature, by Aberjhani

Rest in Peace Dr. Angelou,

MS/25

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A Quotable Poet Salute to Albert Camus for His 100th Birthday

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Aberjhani and Albert Camus, absurdity, Albert Camus, Albert Camus' 100th Birthday, existentialism, famous quotations, French-Algerian Authors, graphic art, jean paul sartre, Nobel Prize in Literature, Philosophy, QP, Quotable Poet, quotes about literature, Quotes by Albert Camus, quotes on Albert Camus

Graphic art quote featuring text by Aberjhani with image of Albert Camus courtesy of Bright Skylark Lit Prods and Postered Poetics. The quote reads: “There is in Albert Camus’ literary craftsmanship a seductive intelligence that could almost make a reader dismiss his philosophical intentions if he had not insisted on making them so clear.” –from Text and Meaning in Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus

What would you say is the biggest surprise about the Quotable Poet’s 100^th birthday tribute to Albert Camus? Around here we’re saying it’s that it seems like he hasn’t done a whole lot more on Camus. Different bio profiles mention Camus’ influence on him as a writer and Hong Kong bloggers have talked about how his work fits the tradition of commitment literature made famous by the birthday boy himself and other French authors like Jean Paul Sartre.

So what’s the answer to the original question? As much as authors might admire other writers they have to give first priority to their own work. But it’s still hard to resist comparing Camus to the Quotable Poet (who so far doesn’t have a Nobel Prize). If the Quotable Poet is any kind of philosopher he would have to be called a spiritual philosopher compared to Camus as an academic/intellectual philosopher. Camus’ fiction is a lot more famous than the QP’s. Both continued to write journalism while also producing literary fiction. The QP has published more poetry. Both had to confront oppressive situations: Camus’ was war and the QP’s was blatant racism. The QP is better known for historical writings. Camus has the stronger reputation as a playwright while there have been rumors about plays by the QP but none seen on Broadway just yet.

But the important news is that Camus is the one turning 100 so these are 3 quotes taken from his Wiki Quotes page and posted as a tribute to his greatness:

• The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning. This is a truth nearly all great minds have taken as their starting point. It is not this discovery that is interesting, but the consequences and rules of action drawn from it.
  • Review of Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea, published in the newspaper Alger Républicain (20 October 1938), p. 5; as quoted in Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd (2002) by Avi Sagi, p. 43
• Nothing is harder to understand than a symbolic work. A symbol always transcends the one who makes use of it and makes him say in reality more than he is aware of expressing.
  • “Hope and the Absurd in the work of Franz Kafka“
• A living man can be enslaved and reduced to the historic condition of an object. But if he dies in refusing to be enslaved, he reaffirms the existence of another kind of human nature which refuses to be classified as an object.
  • “The Failing of Prophecy” in Existentialism Versus Marxism : Conflicting Views on Humanism (1966) by George Edward Novack

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Two Literary Laureates Celebrated: Herta Muller and Amiri Baraka

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African-American authors, Amiri Baraka, Fiction, German authors, Herta Mϋller, modern authors, Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize in Literature, novels, Poetry, writers

Two Literary Laureates Celebrated: Herta Muller and Amiri Baraka

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