The Damaged Good
Poetry by G. Winston James
Lambda Literary Award nominated author G. Winston James returns to the literary landscape with The Damaged Good—a raw, moving poetry collection of searing, unapologetic honesty. Homophobia, sex, desire, longing and liberation mark the terrain of these terse, often unsettling poems. From the unwelcoming streets of Kingston, Jamaica to the parks of Brooklyn, New York, G. Winston James skillfully chronicles new times in black and gay history. The Damaged Good is one of the bravest, most authentic collections of poetry in years.
about the author
G. WINSTON JAMES is a Jamaican-born poet, short fiction writer, essayist and editor. He holds an MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and is the author of the Lambda Literary Award nominated poetry collection Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road. His poetry also appears in numerous anthologies and publications, including Bloom Magazine, Freedom in This Village, Milking Black Bull, Role Call and the Lambda Literary Award winning anthologies, Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS and The Road Before Us: 100 Black Gay Poets. His fiction and essays can also be found in Brooklyn Review, Callaloo, Fighting Words, His 2, The Mammoth Book of Gay Erotica, Shade, Think Again and Waves. James is also co-editor of the historic anthology, Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity.
author photo: © 2006 Luna Luis Ortiz
from the weblog
G. Winston James in ATL this Labor Day Weekend!
Come hear G. Winston James read from The Damaged Good and Voices Risingk at In the Life Atlanta and Charis Books!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
The Literary Café, 4pm-7pm
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2007
Charis Books and More
1189 Euclid Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30307
Tel:(404) 524-0304
August 27, 2007 12:49 PM | Link | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
The Damaged Good readings in NY and DC in May!
photo: © 2006 Andrew Lambert
Come hear the incomparable G. Winston James read from his Lammy-nominated collection of poetry, The Damaged Good…
In New York:
Friday, May 18 at 8pm LGBT Community Center 208 West 13th Street New York City
Men of All Colors Together/New York Proudly Presents MEN’S POETRY IN PERFORMANCE featuring:
SALIH FISHER - Contributor to Yemonja, Black Men/White Men, The Road Before Us & Other Countries: Black Gay Voices
E. PATRICK HARDING - Contributor of several beguiling, ribald tales of Jamaica to the MACT/NY Bulletin
G. WINSTON JAMES - Author of The Damaged Good (just published by Vintage Entity Press) & Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road
HAROLD McNEIL ROBINSON - Contributing Editor of Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS; Contributor to The Road Before Us and Here to Dare
THIS WILL BE A FABULOUS EVENING! ALL ARE URGED TO ATTEND!! Donation $5
And…
In Washington, DC:
Saturday, May 26 at 2-4pm Renaissance M Street Hotel DuPont, Lower Level 1143 New Hampshire NW Washington, DC , 20037 Phone: 202.775.0800
Fire & Ink, Inc DC Black Pride The Authors Lounge will consist of eight vending spaces and seating area. Each author will be able to hold a 10-minute reading session followed by a 10-minute question and answer session with attendees.
Books will be available at each event. To pre-order, visit vepress.com!
May 12, 2007 9:47 AM | Link
G. Winston James in Baltimore & Washington DC in March 07!
G. Winston James’s Hit and Run Tour, in support of his latest book of poetry, The Damaged Good, continues to blaze a path across the US!
Join James, Vintage Entity Press, and Lambda Rising for two very special events in March!
Sat March 24 2pm G. Winston James will be making an in-store appearance at Lambda Rising (Washington DC.)
Location: Lambda Rising Bookstore 1625 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 462-6969 (Fax)(202) 462-7257 shop@lambdarising. com
He will be signing copies of his Lammy-nominated collection, The Damaged Good.
Later that evening at 7pm...
G. Winston will be reading from his collection, The Damaged Good, at Lambda Rising (Baltimore, MD.)
Location: Lambda Rising - MD 241 West Chase Street Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 234-0069 shop@lambdarising. com
For more information, please contact David Eric Foaney at info@vepress. com.
February 28, 2007 9:58 AM | Link | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
G. Winston James interview at 7 Magazine!
Take a look. It is very nice.
February 14, 2007 8:42 PM | Link | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
The Damaged Good is available at Lambda Rising and Outwrite Bookstore and Cafe!
The Damaged Good, and other VEP titles, are now available at the following bookstores:
Lambda Rising Bookstore 1625 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20009 202.462.6969 T shop@lambdarising.com
Lambda Rising - DE 39 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.6969 T shop@lambdarising.com
Lambda Rising - MD 241 West Chase Street Baltimore, MD 21201 410.234.0069 shop@lambdarising.com
Lambda Rising - VA 322 West 21st Street Norfolk, VA 23517 757.626.0969 T shop@lambdarising.com
Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse 991 Piedmont Avenue Atlanta, GA 30309 404.607-0082 T info@outwritebooks.com
And, as always, you can order The Damaged Good, or any of VEP titles (Convincing the Body and FUNNY), through this website (just tap on the button “Add to Cart”) and your order will be delivered to right to your door!
January 28, 2007 5:50 PM | Link | Comments (0)
The Damaged Good in Hotlanta!
Join us in Atlanta this February as G. Winston James’s Hit and Run Tour takes a bite out of the Big Peach!
Time: Saturday, February 17, 2007 8:00 PM
Location: Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse 991 Piedmont Avenue Atlanta, GA 30309 Tel: 404-607-0082
Books are currently available through this website, and at Outwrite Bookstore.
Continue to come to VEP’s website for the latest on G.’s Hit and Run Tour as this multi-talented and sexy writer makes his way across the U.S. and abroad!
For booking inquiries about bulk sales and booking information for all VEP authors, please contact: David Eric Foaney at info@vepress.com.
January 28, 2007 5:29 PM | Link | Comments (0)
G. Winston James Reading the Damaged Good In NYC in January!
Photo by Rtis130
Readers: you are cordially invited to come hear Glen read from his latest book, The Damaged Good, hosted by Gay Men of African Descent on Friday January 19th, 7- 8:30 p.m. at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center 208 West 13th Street (Manhattan) between 7th and 8th Avenues. The reading is free and open to the public and there will be books available for purchase. You can also purchase books prior to the event by clicking this link (add to cart!)
January 1, 2007 5:24 PM | Link | Comments (0)
G. Winston James Talks About His Goods
The author and me at NYC reading (see flickr.com for more photos from the event.)
Talk about your relationship to the written word.
Besides the fact that I’ve often felt alone, I am also a very emotional person. Because of that, I don’t always communicate well orally. When I’m angry, for Instance, I can barely speak.
For me, the written word has always been a way for me to communicate what is going on inside. A way for me to attempt to be clear about myself, where I am, what I’m doing and how I’m feeling on my particular journey. It’s probably safe to say that writing has helped to keep me healthy mentally. It may well have helped to save my life.
Words are like magical instruments to me. They are one of the most effective ways to create art and to tell the truth. I always hope that I am doing both with my work.
When did you decide you were a “writer?”
I still don’t know that I’m “a writer.” I have long stretches during which I cannot write anything at all. I only know that, in the end, I have certain stories to tell. For me, publishing my work is an effort to add my voice to what should be a chorus of voices coming from our black LGBT communities and the larger world.
I don’t see myself as a “sophisticated” or overly complex writer. I have a strong interest in having readers be able to access my work and to feel the emotions I am trying to convey. On most days—my good days—I’m just trying to keep it real, and maybe to make even some dark things (the subjects people don’t like to talk or write about) sound a tiny bit beautiful.
Tell me about your upbringing in Jamaica.
I actually wasn’t raised in Jamaica. I was born there and moved to America with my family when I was a child. I would say, though, that I was brought up as a Jamaican, in a Jamaican household, in a town that had many, many Jamaicans.
As for the quality of my upbringing, I’d have to say first that I was (and am) blessed to have been raised by both of my parents, and to have had my siblings around me. I am the youngest of five. Though some think that the baby is the one that is doted on; my parents were not the most affectionate of people. I wasn’t comforted often when I was hurting. In many ways I was left to fend for myself and to discover pain, sorrow, joy, etc. largely on my own.
I remember clearly wanting for affection as a child, and in some ways I see what that unfulfilled need has wrought in my adult life.
When did you migrate to the US?
My parents moved to Paterson, NJ in 1971. I was 3 years old at the time. Only a few years ago, I decided to reconnect with my “motherland”. I got a Jamaican passport, and nowadays attempt to get back to the island at least once a year. Despite having spent the majority of my life here, I still think of Jamaica as “home” even if I don’t always feel terribly comfortable there.
Do you consider yourself a poet first, or simply a writer?
I consider myself to be an individual on a slightly strange journey. I have a facility with language (I believe)—both in writing and in learning new ones. I am someone who believes strongly in communication—“Save the writer, save the world.” I like to write. My MFA is in fiction, but I actually write poetry more often.
Can you let us in on your writing process?
I write when the spirit moves me. I probably shouldn’t say this since it reveals that I’m not a very “professional” writer, but I am at present incapable of forcing my muse to attention.
What happens to me is that I will be riding in a train, or driving in a car, and a first line will come to me—it could be a line of a poem or short story. Sometimes I stop what I’m doing to write down the line, but I’ve found that to be unnecessary. These lines will not leave me—even if months or years go by.
This is how my work germinates. Sometimes I get many seeds. Other periods, very few. But I’ve come to feel that I’m not in a rush. The work will come, and when it does, my promise to it is that I will try to make each piece the best it can be. I am manic about revision. Both for fear of embarrassing myself and doing the work an injustice.
My favorite short story of yours, “John,” deeply affected me. I love the scene in the bookstore. Tell me how the story came about.
Now, Steven…! Are you try’na start something?
Always.
Continue reading "G. Winston James Talks About His Goods" »
December 20, 2006 12:17 PM | Link | Comments (0)
Advance Praise for "The Damaged Good"
photo: © 2006 Andrew Lambert
“G. Winston James exposes art to raw, human, male emotion. The Damaged Good juxtaposes sensual attraction against twisted obsession, all the while enticing the reader to travel on an intimate journey to the edge of insomnia and insanity. James shows us worlds through ears that no longer see pain as insignificant and eyes that refuse to hear excuses for mediocrity in self and relationships. The Damaged Good is a tale of new times in our history delivered with the intentionality and intensity of writers like Nikki Giovanni and Essex Hemphill. This collection is made of stuff the Dewey Decimal System was created to find.”
— Borris Powell, writer/performer“What an awesome read! At times painful/upsetting. Brilliant!! Stark, raw, lusty, dangerous and intimate, G. Winston James gives us a gift. These poems fall like gems breaking away from the sky. This is our gift: to stare self in the unflinching mirror of truth, and fight back as if our lives depended on it.”
— Cheryl Boyce Taylor, author of Convincing the Body (Vintage Entity Press)“Do not wonder where this poet has been. A growing season has surely covered the broken road of him. What bruise and scar left by the scratch and slap of his poems have surely been healed by their inspired stroke. Wonder instead if it is your name that appears in his ash, after the poet has washed his hands of you. Wonder if his pinky swear to your secret will hold. Wonder if your finger to his lips/his lisp will silence his fears. It is dangerous for a poet to have loved so much and to have remembered it all. Wonder what names, what dead will the paper cut of The Damaged Good bleed.”
— Marvin K. White, author of Last Rights and Nothin’ Ugly Fly (Redbone Press)
October 25, 2006 2:01 PM | Link | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)