Bright Skylark Literary Productions
  • Author Statement
    • Tribute to Savannah Author Robert T.S. Mickles Sr.
    • Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind
    • Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah >
      • Podcast Prospects 504
      • More Books by Aberjhani >
        • Readers & Reviewers on the Writings of Aberjhani
        • Checking in at Goodreads
        • Editing Credits
        • ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love (Art and Poetry Gift Book)
        • The River of Winged Dreams
        • The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois
        • Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player: A Novel by Aberjhani
        • I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
        • Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
        • Buy Books by Aberjhani on Amazon
        • 10th Anniversary of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
  • Blog: Visionary Vibes
    • Twitter Tweets & News Notes >
      • Author-Poet Aberjhani in the News
    • Blog: Literary Persuasion Book Reviews
    • Blog: Sonic Delight Music Reviews >
      • Summer-Song Rhapsody for Michael Jackson: Editorial with Poem
    • Shifting Points of View and the Massacre in Charleston, South Carolina (USA)
    • 7 Ways to Help Replace Legislated Fear with Informed Compassion
  • Art and Poster Store
    • Blog: Silk-Featherbrush Art and Style
    • Postered Poetics
    • Your Introduction to Original Silk-Featherbrush Art & Style
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel
    • Aberjhani - Author Biography
    • Awards & Honors
    • Aberjhani Portfolio Sampler
    • Michael Jackson in Life & Legend
    • Creative Thinkers International
  • About Bright Skylark Literary Productions
    • Bright Skylark Values and Motto
  • Famous Quotes of Note
    • Pinterest Page of Quotations
  • Charter for a More Compassionate World
  • As a Poet Thinketh
    • The Bridge of Silver Wings
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao by Aberjhani
    • Ode to the Good Black Boots that Served My Soul So Well (poem by Aberjhani)
    • Angel of Remembrance: Candles for September 11, 2001
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao: Verse 1
  • Articles and Essays
    • Abbreviated Minds in the News for Wreaking Havoc Worldwide editorial by Aberjhani
    • Iconic Authors Toni Morrison's and Harper Lee's New Works Likely to Influence Dialogues on Race
    • Red Summer: Text and Meaning in Claude McKay’s poem ‘If We Must Die’” part 1 of special 4-part series by Aberjhani
    • A Writer's Journey to Selma, Alabama
    • Justice Remains Elusive in Case of Newly-freed Louis C. Taylor (Part 1 of 2)
    • Sensualized Transcendence: Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts (Part 1)
    • Realms of Emerging Light (Sensualized Transcendence Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts Part 2)
    • Notes on the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
    • Why Race Mattered in Barack Obama's Re-Election: Editorial and Poem
    • Posted Perspectives on America's 2012 Presidential Election
    • 47 Percenters and Guerrilla Decontextualization: Dreamers and Nightmares
    • Considering Michael Clarke Duncan: Big Black Man Within A Nonsociopoliticohistorical Context (Editorial with Poem)
  • Video Pen & Ink
  • Links and Connections
    • Aberjhani's Guerrilla Decontextualization
  • Contact the Author
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  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind is a book written in the style of memoir essays for which the author of Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah has become well known. This literary approach allows him to share with readers compelling stories in which he explores the impact of works by celebrated authors James Alan McPherson, John Berendt, and Flannery O’Connor upon himself, and, the cultural biases which have prompted millions of Americans to take to the streets in protest of the same. The first Special Edition (ISBN 978-1-71668-481-4) of the title also features on its covers original artwork by Aberjhani.

Questions in Search of Answers

The stories pose timely questions like these:
  • Does what many interpret as overt racism in writings by classic authors like O’Connor detract from the writings’ value as world literature for contemporary readers?
  • To what degree are such characterizations of O’Connor’s classic works accurate or erroneous?
  • Why did America’s first African-American winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction exile himself from his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and what does that say about the complex nature of race relations in the city?
  • How and why did “Midnight madness” come to have such a powerful effect on the city of Savannah following the publication of Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?
Various observers have presented some provocative thoughts on the above issues.  A major difference between them and Aberjhani, however, is the latter’s connection to the subject authors not only as someone––like O’Connor and McPherson––born in Savannah, but as a fellow author included with them and Berendt in the celebrated travel anthology Literary Savannah.  While seeking answers over a period of decades across America and around the world, he draws inspiration from some unexpected sources. They include: an “intuited conversation” with O’Connor herself, reggae music pioneer Bob Marley, Sufi educator and poet Jalaluddin Rumi, and authors Alice Walker, George Dawes Green, Ntozake Shange, and Toni Morrison. 

A Book for Our Changing Times

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Where to find Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind: Adventures & Misadventures in Literary Savannah

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​The publication of Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind comes at a time when citizens of the U.S. are reevaluating the roles which concepts of race, gender, and nationality have played in America’s history and are likely to play in its future. The three authors on which this volume focuses each addressed these subjects in their own stylistic ways long before the United States arrived at the boiling point it reached in 2020. As has been well-documented in mainstream media and on social media, the country reached that point following a series of events which resulted in disruptions of daily life as Americans knew it on a scale not seen in a century. 
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The first event was the stunning deadly impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Next came announcements of a succession of police-related killings which ignited mass protests all over the globe; namely, the shooting deaths of: Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and Elijah McClain. The question of “Where do we go from here?” is one which has been frequently asked following these history-altering events and Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind helps inspire the kinds of reflections capable of providing important answers.

​Bright Skylark Literary Productions Booknotes
  • Author Statement
    • Tribute to Savannah Author Robert T.S. Mickles Sr.
    • Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind
    • Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah >
      • Podcast Prospects 504
      • More Books by Aberjhani >
        • Readers & Reviewers on the Writings of Aberjhani
        • Checking in at Goodreads
        • Editing Credits
        • ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love (Art and Poetry Gift Book)
        • The River of Winged Dreams
        • The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois
        • Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player: A Novel by Aberjhani
        • I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
        • Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
        • Buy Books by Aberjhani on Amazon
        • 10th Anniversary of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
  • Blog: Visionary Vibes
    • Twitter Tweets & News Notes >
      • Author-Poet Aberjhani in the News
    • Blog: Literary Persuasion Book Reviews
    • Blog: Sonic Delight Music Reviews >
      • Summer-Song Rhapsody for Michael Jackson: Editorial with Poem
    • Shifting Points of View and the Massacre in Charleston, South Carolina (USA)
    • 7 Ways to Help Replace Legislated Fear with Informed Compassion
  • Art and Poster Store
    • Blog: Silk-Featherbrush Art and Style
    • Postered Poetics
    • Your Introduction to Original Silk-Featherbrush Art & Style
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel
    • Aberjhani - Author Biography
    • Awards & Honors
    • Aberjhani Portfolio Sampler
    • Michael Jackson in Life & Legend
    • Creative Thinkers International
  • About Bright Skylark Literary Productions
    • Bright Skylark Values and Motto
  • Famous Quotes of Note
    • Pinterest Page of Quotations
  • Charter for a More Compassionate World
  • As a Poet Thinketh
    • The Bridge of Silver Wings
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao by Aberjhani
    • Ode to the Good Black Boots that Served My Soul So Well (poem by Aberjhani)
    • Angel of Remembrance: Candles for September 11, 2001
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao: Verse 1
  • Articles and Essays
    • Abbreviated Minds in the News for Wreaking Havoc Worldwide editorial by Aberjhani
    • Iconic Authors Toni Morrison's and Harper Lee's New Works Likely to Influence Dialogues on Race
    • Red Summer: Text and Meaning in Claude McKay’s poem ‘If We Must Die’” part 1 of special 4-part series by Aberjhani
    • A Writer's Journey to Selma, Alabama
    • Justice Remains Elusive in Case of Newly-freed Louis C. Taylor (Part 1 of 2)
    • Sensualized Transcendence: Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts (Part 1)
    • Realms of Emerging Light (Sensualized Transcendence Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts Part 2)
    • Notes on the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
    • Why Race Mattered in Barack Obama's Re-Election: Editorial and Poem
    • Posted Perspectives on America's 2012 Presidential Election
    • 47 Percenters and Guerrilla Decontextualization: Dreamers and Nightmares
    • Considering Michael Clarke Duncan: Big Black Man Within A Nonsociopoliticohistorical Context (Editorial with Poem)
  • Video Pen & Ink
  • Links and Connections
    • Aberjhani's Guerrilla Decontextualization
  • Contact the Author
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2