Author Archive: Jennifer Baker-Henry
A native New Yorker Jennifer Baker-Henry has been writing since she entered the academic institution and continues to do so every moment she gets. Jennifer received her MFA from The New School's graduate program in Creative Writing and is an alum of The City College of New York's baccalaureate program in English.
She works as a production editor in academic publishing, while also freelancing as an ESL tutor, proofreader, and writer for the urban e-zine AroundHarlem.com. Jennifer was a mentor for Girls Write Now and now volunteers for the organization. She's also a writer-in-residence with the Jentel Artist Residency Program from April-May 2011.
Jennifer is working on a variety of short stories in addition to a collection centered around race and family, and a YA novel. You can see her writing and baking on her website at www.jennifernbaker.com.
Harlem Book Fair Author Tanya Wright Discusses Self Publishing with Amazon’s CreateSpace
Self publishing isn’t new. It’s been around since the dawn of man. Self-publication was created and utilized to spread the word, be it good or bad. Some of our classics and many texts of the religious order are self-publications that have grown over time to become part of the literary canon. Nowadays, self-publication may be [...]
La Menta Collective — Friends. Artists. Collaborators.
La Menta Collective is a new initiative providing a platform for new and emerging artists of various art forms. The Collective seeks to provide an avenue for artistic growth. Through regular exhibitions, readings and performances (juntas), an online presence, and involvement in various arts events, they strive to provide themselves and other artists with a [...]
Theatre Review — Pulitzer Prize Winner Ruined by Lynn Nottage
Saidah Arrika Ekulona (left) and Condola Rashad in Lynn Nottage’s ‘Ruined’ at the Manhattan Manhattan Theatre ClubClub Photo: Wall Street Journal ***** Last year HBO premiered The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, a documentary by Lisa F. Jackson. Greatest Silence introduced me to the atrocities going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [...]
Raw Soul — Healthy Vegan / Vegetarian Eating in Harlem
Raw Vegetarian Pizza *** Near the corner of 145th and St. Nicholas, smack dab in the middle of Harlem’s Sugar Hill, there’s a Dunkin Donuts, Famous Fish (really, they’re famous) with its line of people stretching down the block and a couple of other typical Harlem take out spots. Then, there’s Raw Soul, an all [...]
Theatre Review: Tracy Wilson Scott’s “The Good Negro” at The Public Theater
On November 5, 2008 millions saw Civil Rights activist and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Jesse Jackson, with tears streaming down his face as President-elect Barack Obama took to the stage on a chilly night in Chicago. Jesse Jackson was with Dr. King the day he was assassinated and since then continued [...]
Casa Frela — A Gallery in the Heart of Harlem
Past the Metro North tracks on 119th Street there are a string of buildings, the Emanual AME Church, and what many may not know, a gallery dedicated to artists whose work represents an array of backgrounds, mindsets, and skills. Translated Casa Frela means “Delicate Homeâ€; so it fits that the gallery also serves as the [...]
Latin Flavor on a Plate – La Fonda Boricua
After passing several Spanish food restaurants, a bakery or two, a brand spanking-new diner one may not recognize, you continue on your trek up Lexington Avenue. Your destination is a neighborhood staple called La Fonda Boricua. As someone more familiar with the westside of Harlem than the east, I learned about La Fonda Boricua, again, [...]
Southern Comfort Food in the Comfort of Harlem — Melba’s Restaurant Review
Photo: Flickr.com As self-proclaimed “foodies†my husband and I are avid Food Network watchers. Coupled with my husband’s subscription to Bon Appetit magazine we often impress visitors (be they friend or family) with our impulsive decision to make a recipe of mac and cheese while spicing it up with salsa. Or making a batch of [...]
REVIEW: Miracle at St. Anna
Oscar-nominated writer/director Spike Lee is known for films that touch upon the African-American experience or the New York experience. So it makes sense that his latest film centers on the only African-American division that saw infantry combat in Europe during World War II. While America needed as many troops as possible to fight in the [...]
Harlem’s Hue-Man Bookstore’s First Voices Series Panel – August 30, 2008
The latest First Voices Series Panel at Hue-Man Bookstore was held on a much more humid day then the previous one. Instead of hurriedly purchasing a cup of hot chocolate to warm myself I ordered chilled water and took a seat in the back. The First Voices Series Panel––held quarterly––is an event that managing owner [...]
My Trip to Ghana — The Pan African Literary Forum
When informing friends, relatives, and co-workers that I was headed to Ghana I received mixed reactions and saw some raised eyebrows. The exclamation of “Wow, that sounds amazing!†was often followed by the question, “What’s in Ghana?†For me this trip was a few years in the making. I had the pleasure of studying with [...]
First Voices at Harlem’s Hue-Man Bookstore
Tucked away between two large buildings is a small bookstore & coffee shop that seems like a breath of fresh air for literary and caffeine lovers on Frederick Douglass Blvd. When walking into Hue-Man Bookstore & Café there’s an almost endless wall of magazines to your right and a small sitting area for writers, those [...]