Tulisoma, which means "we read" in Swahili, is a fitting name for the South Dallas Book Fair and Arts Festival. The event, founded in 2003 to promote literacy and highlight businesses in South Dallas, will run from Aug. 24 to 26 at the African American Museum.
The Heart and Soul Tour of South Dallas landmarks will launch the festival at 2 p.m. Aug. 24 and will be followed by book readings, storytelling, writing workshops, children's programs, spoken word poetry, panel discussions, and performances at the museum in Fair Park. The event ends Aug. 26 with the Sunday Gospel Brunch at the Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church at 3203 Holmes St.
Several nationally acclaimed authors, as well as some local talent, have signed on for the festival, including:
Shella Gillus: By age 10 she wrote her first chapter book, a three-act play and performed in several theatrical shows. As a teenager, she wrote and performed in plays for her local church and organized a series of summer self-esteem workshops for underprivileged youth in south Tucson. Here fiction debut, The Loom is described as a “colorful tale of love linked to a lie and the discovery that life is not always black or white.” Shella has made two appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney: Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at the University of Texas Arlington, he is the author of Black Police in America and editor of Charleston’s Avery Center: From Education and Civil Rights to Preserving the African-American Experience and co-editor of Essays on the American Civil Rights Movement. He is now completing a social and political history of African Americans in Dallas for Texas A & M University Press.
Dorothy Newton: Author of Silent Tears, an autobiography about her struggle with domestic violence at the hands of her Super Bowl Champion celebrity husband. Raised near New Orleans in a blended family as one of six children, Newton was surrounded by abuse and living in poverty. Newton’s gripping story takes readers on a personal journey through betrayal, abuse, survival, recovery and finally victory.
Carleen Brice: Author of the novel Orange Mint and Honey, later a Lifetime Movie called Sins of the Mother and winner of a 2011 NAACP Image Award. She is also the author of Lead Me Home: an African American’s Guide through the Grief Journey; and Walk Tall: Affirmations for People of Color. In 2008, she won the Breakout Author of the Year Award from the African American Literary Awards Show and in 2009 received the First Novel Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.
For a list of tour sites and festival details visit www.tulisoma.com