Cotillion Festival for GLBT writers of African descent heads to Austin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2009

Contact: G. Winston James

info@fireandink.org



*Cotillion Festival for GLBT writers of African descent heads to Austin*





Registration is underway for Fire & Ink III: Cotillion, a festival for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of African descent, to be
held October 8-11, 2009 in Austin, Texas. Cotillion presenters include
keynote Nikky Finney, poets Samiya Bashir, Staceyann Chin, Lenelle
Moïse, Anton Nimblett, Tim’m T. West, Marvin K. White and avery r.
young; writers Sharon Bridgforth, Laurinda D. Brown, Terrence Dean,
Thomas Glave, and Nalo Hopkinson and Ana Lara; filmmakers M.
Asli Dukan, Thomas Allen Harris, Yoruba Richen and Yvonne Welbon; visual
artists Torkwase Dyson, Zanele Muholi, Wura-Natasha Ogunji and Carl
Pope; and performances by E. Patrick Johnson and Daniel Alexander Jones.
Cotillion will be held at the Hilton Austin, 500 E. 4^th  St. in
downtown Austin, with additional Cotillion events at the Blanton
Museum and the Historic Victory Grill, among others. A complete listing
of presenters can be found athttp://2009.fireandink.org
<http://2009.fireandink.org/>.


Early bird registration ($125) for the four-day festival ends Sept. 4,
2009; regular registration ($175) ends Oct. 1, 2009. There is no on-site
registration. Cotillion is open to the public with paid registration.
More information can be obtained at http://2009.fireandink.org
<http://2009..fireandink.org/>.


Featuring more than 40 workshops, panels and roundtables, Cotillion
attendees can expect engaging, thought-provoking discussion in such
panels as “Dash: Metaphor and Connection,” which explores how writers
influence visual artists’ work; “Contemporary Caribbean LGBTQ Writing”;
“Witness to Tradition: LGBT African Media Makers”; “Canaries in the
Mine,” about black queer political theater and social change; and “Pot
Calling Kettle Black: Heterosexism in Homo-Hop.” Cotillion writing
workshops target beginning, intermediate and established writers;
Cotillion also brings a sampling of today’s hottest performance work
with a staged reading of /delta dandi/ by Sharon Bridgforth, /Pouring
Tea/ by E. Patrick Johnson and an intimate cabaret evening with Jomama
Jones.


Cotillion brings together writers, readers, scholars, students, editors,
publishers, curators, audio and visual artists and media professionals
from around the country. Dr. Dwight McBride of the University of
Illinois-Chicago describes the festival as “one of the few critical
spaces where writers, critics, and publishers interested in literature
by LGBT persons of African descent can come together to have dialogue
about the state of literary culture, important issues in the African
American community addressed in that literature, and to chart new
political and aesthetic directions.”


Fire & Ink, Incorporated is devoted to increasing the understanding,
visibility and awareness of the works of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender writers of African descent and heritage. Cotillion is made
possible by major sponsorships from the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for
Justice; the John L. Warfield Center for African and African-American
Studies at the University of Texas at Austin; and ALLGO,
a Texas statewide queer people of color organization. Other sponsors
include the International Federation of Black Prides and the Law Firm of
Francés Jones, P.C.

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