blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

brown unboxing bureau 39, a series of 50 handcrafted books made in copenhagen, dk Chances are you have held a BQP publication in your hand. If so, you have experienced the power of each books' individuality, uniqueness. These books are not massed produced, but each a work of art, a performance piece, a statement of the book . I am a Brooklyn-based writer/artist who currently live in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2007 I founded Bandit Queen Press. Using nothing but the words from my heart, paper pleasing to the touch, a stapler and photocopier machine, I produced 100 handmade, individually unique copies of my first collection of poetry entitled The Organist's Daughter . Four years later and three more titles under its belt, Bandit Queen Press is about living beyond survival mode and the power inherent in creative sovereignty. Bandit Queen Press's last creation, Bureau 39 , is a limited edition literary zine featuring the works of New York-based poets such as Willi...

Bandit Queen Press is Proud to Present: Blackgirl on Mars On Sunday November 2nd, 2pm Lesley-Ann Brown reads Selected Poems from The Organist's Daughter and her upcoming collection of poetry Blackgirl on Mars Det Poetiske Bureau Griffenfeldsgade 52

The Organist’s Daughter I sit Amidst The smell Of Disinfectant & shit while you sleep seeming delicately balanced between life & death I hold your hand. Although you are Asleep, We both know That you are Already dead. You wait for Me to do what I can not do. I hold your hand Daddy, your hand Which once held Belts lashed into Young flesh. You beat us, you said, because When you were young… Sometimes, I suppose It takes more than Just one man To break a cycle. Offences were Arbitrary & Ebbed & Flowed with The availability Of work. You were the overseer Of the plantation Of our youth. You were the guard Of the bedroom Which imprisoned us. The punisher Who whipped Young virgin Brown skin With metal-studded Leather (father) You executed our Youth Beheaded our hearts With a frustrated Sigh You midwifed us Out of our childhood & birthed beaten brothers & sisters bloodstain your heart, your badge of bitterness— this is your legacy. Your face is Round like the moon ...

Yesterday morning,as I sat having my coffee at the kitchen table, I couldn't help but notice my little wooden bracelet on the counter. I chuckled a little, and shook my head, I mean--you find things in the oddest places here. When you open a cutlery drawer, there's a pen, and please don't open that closet(literally and metaphorically) cause I can't protect you from you might find! But in the end, it is all fitting, all in line, all consistent with that running theme I, and many others have experienced and that is of being, or feeling, out of place. When I lived in Brooklyn, I was yankee girl in my house, and the Trinidadian girl amongst my friends, when I lived in Trinidad I was, well, Yankee girl again and in college, the Black/Trinidadian girl and in Copenhagen I'm well--you get the picture. I've never felt uncomfortable in this role, and I guess I've learned to thrive in it especially since one of the things I feel fortunate about is having had the op...

Just finished Junot Diaz's The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao a book which I highly recommend. Diaz is triumphant in grabbing the bull of history, politics and life by the horns and taming it into an engrossing tale that makes you laugh and in the end, cry. I always knew he'd come back strong after his first collection of short stories, Drown. His work makes me proud to be a writer. Earlier this week, 60 Minutes ran a program called, The Key to Happpiness which features a segment on Danes, happiness and quality of life. (I not only recommend taking a look at this segment, but take a moment to read the comments as well--some of them are pretty funny!) The Los Angeles Wave published an article about Black Books and publishing entitled Extending Shelf Lives and on that note, you should definitely visit Ringshout if this is at all what interests you. Much props to Chris Jackson and crew for the efforts and amidst all this, I can't help but think of Bandit Queen Pres...

Bandit Queen Press was founded in 2007 by Brooklyn-born writer Lesley-Ann Brown. Bandit Queen Press is born out of the need for writers to exercise a symbolic and practical ownership over their work. Bandit Queen Press is born to wipe out feelings of alienation between the creator and the creation. Bandit Queen Press is born in protest to the publishing establishment. Bandit Queen Press is proud to announce its first title The Organist’s Daughter by Lesley-Ann Brown. Created on a Copenhagen Kitchen table, The Organist’s Daughter is a tribute to the unglamorous grittiness of life. Bandit Queen Press is a movement that you can be part of. All you need is access to paper. Please submit all new title ideas to banditqueenpress@yahoo.com for a copy of our manifesto which must be adhered to before use of the Bandit Queen Press seal of approval. Blackgirl on Mars can be heard at Homegrown's Myspace Merry Christmas!

i am on the plane and i just finished your book. i am so proud of you lesley. i am so proud, not only that you have a book published. but that you have spoken. that you have opened up your mouth and released your truth. i know that we never really got down to some of the specifics of what went down with your family, i always felt like there was a place i was not welcome to go in your memories, and i always knew there was so much in your life that you had overcome, run from, run to, run around, stared at etc etc etc, and reading this piece made me sense that you were finally speaking. free. stepping towards free. and it is such a STRONG collection, i mean in the sense that it is saying I AM STRONG. i probably sound like a big dork, but i mean it. i am so happy for you. thanks for letting me know where to find it! i am so glad i happened to be in NY just now. xoxo Elisa Donovan