The Barns of Rose Hill partnered with 1455 Literary Arts for a special reading with Sean Murphy, who read from his new collection The Blackened Blues, accompanied by pianist Quentin Walston. The Blackened Blues, which Dr. Cornel West has called “a powerful and beautiful collection of poems,” is a searing and timely take on American culture that finds perspective on the present by interrogating our past. These poems are part of a large and ongoing project that discusses (and celebrates) some of the author’s personal heroes who remain far less celebrated than they deserve to be. As it happens, many of them are musicians, hampered in various ways by discrimination, ranging from old fashioned racism to institutional and cultural indifference. Though there’s an elegiac sadness suffusing this collection, there’s also acknowledgment of defiant genius: they fought their battles bravely, in their art and in their lives. The Blackened Blues seeks to capture something (or, hopefully, more than a few things) essential about their lives, bearing witness while also paying homage. Purchase The Blackened Blues: https://bookshop.org/books/the-blacke…
ABOUT 1455
1455 is a nonprofit organization seeking to advance the appreciation of and passion for the creative arts through programs that support expression, education, and the sharing of storytelling. Our mission is to build and support a dynamic, innovative community that provides established and emerging creatives with time and space to create, and the resources to encourage and inspire artists at all stages of their careers. We are dedicated to providing events, discussions, and opportunities to fans of the literary (and other) arts to meet and network. WEBSITE: https://1455litarts.org FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/1455litarts TWITTER: https://twitter.com/1455LitArts INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/1455litarts LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/6969…
ABOUT SEAN MURPHY
Sean Murphy has been publishing fiction, poetry, reviews (of music, movie, book, food), and essays on the technology industry for more than twenty years. He has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Forbes, and AdAge. A long-time columnist for PopMatters, his work has also appeared in Salon, The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, The Good Men Project, Memoir Magazine, and others. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize two times, once for short fiction and once for poetry. His poems have been widely anthologized, including the collections Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era, This Is What America Looks Like, Lo-Fi Poetry Series: Poet Sounds, and Written in Arlington: Poems for Arlington, VA. Previous publications include the memoir Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone, the novel Not to Mention a Nice Life, and the non-fiction collections Murphy’s Law, Volumes One and Two. WEBSITE: https://seanmurphy.net FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSeanMu… TWITTER: https://twitter.com/bullmurph INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bullmurph LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-murp…
ABOUT QUENTIN WALSTON
Quentin Walston is an active composer, pianist, and music educator in the Washington DC area. He composes for piano and his jazz combo, blending memorable melodies, striking rhythms, and adventurous improvisations. As a music and jazz educator, Quentin shares the joy of learning and playing music to individuals of all ages. WEBSITE: https://quentinwalston.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/QuentinWalston INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/quentinwalston LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quentin-w…
ABOUT BARNS OF ROSE HILL
Barns of Rose Hill is a vibrant 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts venue and community center located in historic downtown Berryville, Virginia. Our venue was formerly two historic dairy barns from the early 20th century that have been respectfully restored and renovated in 2011 into one unique building with superb acoustic engineering and modern amenities. Our busy year-round schedule of diverse events and programs attracts nearly 5,000 visitors each year. WEBSITE: https://barnsofrosehill.org FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/BarnsofRoseHill TWITTER: https://twitter.com/visitBORH INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/barnsofrose… YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPnp…
