Let’s not forget our neighbors to the east. This Saturday at ComeUnity Café in Jackson, Tennessee, author James E. Cherry will be reading from, discussing, and signing his latest novel, Edge of the Wind. The Clyde Gilmore Jazz Combo will perform and refreshments will be served.
In the highly suspenseful Edge of the Wind (Stephen F. Austin State University Press), Alexander van der Pool, a sensitive but deeply troubled 25-year-old black man, is off his meds and has begun hearing voices, especially that of Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright’s iconic character. Having been holed up in his sister’s bedroom in southwest Tennessee for two months, Alex has done nothing but read and write poetry. He is convinced that writing poetry is his life’s calling and sets out to visit a local community college to have his work evaluated. But life takes a terrible turn when those at the college reject him and his work and try to kick him out. Alex takes matters into his own hands and holds the literature class hostage.
Noted poet Nikki Giovanni has said of Cherry: “Let me say it plain: James E. Cherry can write.”
And local author Arthur Flowers says, “Cherry is a master of the word, providing light in darkness, dropping knowledge and taking no prisoners.”
Cherry is the author of six books, including Loose Change, Still a Man and Other Stories, Shadow of Light, and Bending the Blues. He has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award, a Lillian Smith Book Award, and as a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Fiction. His work has been published nationally as well as in Nigeria, Canada, France, and China. Cherry has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and resides in Tennessee with his wife, Tammy.
James E. Cherry
ComeUnity Café
218 E. Main Street
(Jackson, Tennessee)
Saturday, Dec. 17th
1 p.m.
