1st edition collectible art book by artist Luther E. Vann & author Aberjhani. A limited number of copies signed by the artist and author currently available through this site. Autographed copies by the artist also currently available (April 2023) at Sulfur Art Studios in Savannah, Georgia.
Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind is written in the style of memoir essays for which the author of Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah has become well known. The literary approach in this collection allows him to share with readers compelling stories in which he explores the impact of works by three authors often associated with his hometown of Savannah, Georgia (USA): James Alan McPherson, John Berendt, and Flannery O’Connor.
Moreover, the covered art, titled "Landscape for Poets Addicted to Love & Justice," is also by the author-artist.
In addition to documenting the influences of O'Connor, McPherson, and Berendt upon himself, Aberjhani examines the cultural biases which have prompted many Americans to protest the same on a variety of platforms. These have ranged from social media, classrooms, and Zoom meetings, to Congressional debates on critical race theory and marches on Washington D.C.
This first Special Edition (ISBN 978-1-71668-481-4) comprises only one third of the author-artist’s creative strategic approach to discussing O'Connor's work during a historical period which has seen cultural progressions considered unthinkable during O’Connor’s lifetime. The other two components of the approach include: works featured in Flannery O'Connor Review 2022; and, the Flannery O’Connor and Converging Grace art collection.
Celebrated volume of contemporary poems by Aberjhani. Gift book. Special autographed copies available by request through this website.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Evolution of a Vision, from Songs of the
Angelic Gaze to The River of Winged Dreams i
Introduction to The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009:
Deliverance in Action v
Part I: in midnight’s orchard roses blossom
Angel of Hope’s Persistent Flight 1
Angel of Mercy 3
All Night in Savannah the Wind Wrote Poetry 5
The Poet-Angels Who Came to Dinner 7
Angel of War 9
A Modest Proposal of Alternative Notions 11
Angel of Healing: for the Living, the Dying, and the
Praying 12
Promises of Now 14
Angel of Peace 15
Angel of Remembrance: Candles for September 11,
2001 18
There upon a Bough of Hope and Audacity 21
Notes for an Elegy in the Key of Michael I 22
Notes for an Elegy in the Key of Michael II 24
Part II: a halo like a world
Photographed Light of My Grandmother’s Soul 27
Poem Found Running Naked through a Southern
Rock Garden 29
An Angel for New Orleans 31
Philosophy of the Midnight Skylark in a Jazz Suite
Mode 33
Sounds Scribbled Mixed-Media Platinum at the Jepson Center 3/22/09 34
Sunday Afternoon and the Jazz Angel Cometh 36
Once Was a Singer for God 38
Angel of Friendship’s Enduring Faith 40
A Poet’s Birthday Dance through Fire and Rain 43
Angel of Earth Days and Seasons 45
A Poet’s Birthday Dance through Fire and
Rain 2007 47
Part III: earth’s delights and heaven’s tears
Angel of Grace 51
The River of Winged Dreams 53
A Coat and Shoes for Halloween 55
Angel of Christmas Love Shining Bright 57
Tybee Island Love Storm 59
The Christmas Angel Who Whispered My Name 60
A Friend Like a Drunk Poem on New Year’s
Eve 61
Angel of Valentine Days and Nights 63
The Comforter on Your Bed 65
Poets of the Angels 67
Angel of Gratitude 69
Part IV: The Bridge of Silver Wings
Feathers of Gold, Feathers of Silver 73
Angel of Better Days to Come 79
Midnight Flight of the Poetry Angels 81
What Angels Call “A Poet” 83
Part V: Monday burning like oil
Angels and Shakespeare 87
Acknowledgments 99
A special paperback text edition of the BLACK & BLUE LETTERS FROM THE RED ZONE art book. (Cost includes shipping and handling fees.)
In the compelling stories, letters, and poems which comprise These Black and Blue Red Zone Days (ISBN: 979-8-218-17561-0), author and artist Aberjhani presents readers with portraits of what has it has meant to confront, and survive, different facets of the great pandemic of the 21st Century. Through observations which combine the intimacy of journal-writing with the objectivity of journalism and scholarly documentation, the celebrated creative explores how and why COVID-19 and its different variants have represented only one plague which America and the world are still battling. A pandemic of social, racial, and political imbalances and injustices––despite many wishing it otherwise––has proven just as deadly and costly.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Into the Red Zone 7
Chapter 2: Through a COVID-19 Lens Darkly 25
Chapter 3: Collective Angst and Private Heavens 43
Chapter 4: Dreaming at 100.4 Fever Degrees Fahrenheit 59
Chapter 5: Black Folks and Existential Proclamations of the
Blues 75
Chapter 6: Quarantine Cubism 95
Chapter 7: Remembering Red in a Different Way 109
Chapter 8: Traveling with the Angels 125
Chapter 9: Stormy Days in Georgia & Washington D.C. 143
Chapter 10: This Time of Renewal and Re-weaving 159
Epilogue: Seeker with the Inkhorn 185
Acknowledgments 193
Contributing Creatives 196
About the Author 203
The price shown here is for a 36"x24" acrylic print available at Fine Art America.com and on Pixels.com at links highlighted below. Prices vary according to product type and size ordered and during special sales events.
SAVANNAHVERSE JAZZ AND EXISTENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS OF THE BLUES NUMBER 2 (2018-2023) is an original mixed-media work of fine art available in multiple formats at the following links as: framed wall art, decorative coffee cups, home décor, puzzles, and more.
The SAVANNAHVERSE JAZZ AND EXISTENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS OF THE BLUES series started with visual creative work begun before the COVID pandemic hit. It developed further as author-artist Aberjhani video-recorded interviews with retired Savannah State University radio programmer Thereon “Ike” Carter for their music heritage project.
“I coined the term SAVANNAHVERSE (unaware at the time a few others on social media had come up with the same) to express the many paradoxical nuances which make the city of Savannah, Georgia, so captivatingly unique,” said Aberjhani. “It is both very old, being one of the United States’ original 13 colonies, and yet very modern with a healthy film industry. It contains a blend of ethnic cultures––African American, Irish, Greek, Latinx, and diverse immigrants–– which all add to its allure. And jazz is one of the city’s major cultural markers.”
Proceeds from sales of Savannahverse Jazz and Existential Proclamations of the Blues Number 2 help provide support for the ongoing Music Heritage Project. (Those who wish to learn more about the project and donate to it can do so at: https://gofund.me/7f16f250 ). The official fundraiser for the project is running from April (which is National Poetry Month and Jazz Appreciation Month) until June 2023 (which is African-American Music Month).
Aberjhani
Dreams of the Immortal Citi Savannah is a collection of creative nonfiction on cultural arts, family life, and history in Savannah, Georgia. Present stock is available from the publisher, Cyberwit.net, and on Amazon.
The stories in the book range from texts addressing cultural displacement and global warming to those examining the demands of caregiving, the divide between advances in technology and stagnation in social justice, human trafficking/slavery, futurism, family dynamics, the cultural arts, and prophetic inclinations all framed by life unfolding in the famed city of Savannah, Georgia (USA). Titles of the resulting stories are as follows:
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Cities of Lights and Shadows and Dreams
A Brazilian Thanksgiving in Georgia
Trees Down Everywhere
Dreams of the Immortal City
The Bridge and the Monument: A Tale of Two Legacies
Riding the Bus with Man-Boy and Shaniquananda: and Then Not
Monet, Vann, and Gibran at the Telfair Museum of Art
Savannah by the Twenty-first Century Numbers
Appendix A: 2016 Statement on the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge
Appendix B: 2017 Statement on the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge
Appendix C: Savannah Community Marks 100th Anniversary of a Legacy of Knowledge
Appendix D: A Legacy Less Traveled
Appendix E: A Place Called Hitch Village and the Federal Economic Stimulus Package
Looking at the above table of contents with appendices it becomes easy enough to see why Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah is described with this tagline: "A memoir of what happens when the heart and soul of a historic city meet the art and purpose of a 21st-century advocate for compassion and social justice."
(Watermark seen on Flannery O’Connor Review 2022 in image does not appear on actual. Shipping and handling fees are included in cost of item.)
Flannery O’Connor Review 2022 showcases cover art by Aberjhani titled “Sermon in the Valley of Broken Angels” and a full section of pages––titled “When Hunger and Passion Collide and Other Works”––of additional original images. The special section also includes the previously unpublished poem, “History and Prophets’ Prerogatives” (now also included in These Black and Blue Red Zone Days).
Aberjhani’s work within the journal represents part of a multi-discipline trilogy exploring different aspects of O’Connor’s literary canon, which is taught in educational institutions around the world. In addition to “When Hunger and Passion Collide and Other Works,” the author-artist’s examinations of O’Connor’s legacy and continuing influence include: the memoir/essay collection Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of Mind, and the art series titled Flannery O’Connor and Converging Grace.
As indicated on the cover of the Review, this volume represents the 20th year anniversary of the publication of the scholarly journal, and, the 50th anniversary of the Flannery O’Connor Bulletin. Equally notable is the fact that Aberjhani is one of very few African-Americans native to Savannah (as O’Connor, white, was herself) to have published work addressing controversial facets of O’Connor’s writings.