Wade Hampton McKinney, October, 2011.

A ground-breaking study of the early history of African American Baptists, this excellently documented and beautifully written book outlines the phases that introduced African slaves to Christianizing influences, several distinct periods of missionary endeavors, and the introduction of Baptists to America, with specific details about distinct differences between and among white and black groups following slavery. An outstanding preacher and orator, the author, Wade Hampton McKinney (19 July 1892 - 18 January 1963) was a well-respected minister of the Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio and a community leader to whom many firsts were accorded; he was the first black foreman of the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury, an organizer of Quincy Savings & Loan and Forest City Hospital, and the leader of many voter campaigns.  A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Rochester Theological Seminary in April, 1923. 

by Andrew Himes. May, 2011.

"This is a remarkable book about the lives of two remarkable men. One is John R. Rice, editor of The Sword of the Lord newspaper, whose life's work was a taproot of American fundamentalism. The other is Rice's grandson, Andy Himes, whose journey took him from fundamentalism through Maoism to Microsoft, bringing him finally to a place where he could write candidly and compassionately about a man and a movement we must understand if we want to understand America. A brilliant mix of social analysis and high drama (in which people like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Bob Jones, Jr., play supporting roles), the book will make you wince sometimes and at other times open your eyes, gifting you with the hard-won insight that allowed its author to recount this personal and historical tale." -- Parker J. Palmer (author of Let Your Life Speak, A Hidden Wholeness, and The Courage to Teach)

wt by Alix Wilber. October, 2011.

Publisher's Weekly: "A first novel packed with this much mesmerizing craziness is a rarity. A tale spanning four generations of the Dufore family of rural Esperance, Vt., Wilber's novel seems to have caromed off such influences as Twain, Vonnegut, Faulkner and even John Irving. Uncle Ab is doomed to burst into flames. Poor Davy is literally going soft and rotting like a piece of spoiled fruit. Bobby lives in dread of being hit by a meteor. Old Gran Marie hasn't slept in 70 years. Paul and his little son may have turned into trout. These idiosyncrasies form only a part of the patchwork heritage of the Dufore clan, and women who chose to marry a Dufore will have their hands full. Hilarity and horror overflow these pages in equal measure, sending out an intensely exuberant message that life goes on...This rich stew of a debut haunts and compels."  (Original publication in 1991 by W.W. Norton and Company.)

Welcome to Chiara Press

VIW DVD AnthologyAnthology of poetry and essays. Documentary film. 2004.

Voices in Wartime began in 2004 as a feature-length documentary that sharply etches the experience of war through powerful images and the words of poets – unknown and world-famous. Soldiers, journalists, historians and experts on combat interviewed in Voices in Wartime add diverse perspectives on war’s effects on soldiers, civilians and society. In Voices in Wartime, poets around the world, from the United States and Colombia to Britain and Nigeria to Iraq and India, share their views and experiences of war that extend beyond national borders and into the depth of the human soul.

 

Beyond WartimeBeyond Wartime. Documentary short. 2005.

A twenty minute documentary film, Beyond Wartime, is composed of a set of interviews with people who are working to heal the wounds of war. These interviews explore the questions raised by the film Voices in Wartime:

  • What can we do to heal the physical and psychological wounds of returning combat vets, and to reintegrate them into our communities?
  • How can we heal the damage done to civilians and civil society in places like Iraq and Afghanistan? 

Audio poetry CD. 2010.

31 Poems from the Voices in Wartime Anthology and the feature-length film. Includes poems read by their authors from around the world from Iraq to London, Baghdad to Seattle, as well as poems from the past by poets such as Wilfred Owens, Alan Seeger, Emily Dickinson, and Langston Hughes.

 

 

by Leroy Twist. Publication date: October, 2011.

In “Footwashing Sunday on the Sipsey River,” Harry Winslow, an elder of the Willows Bend Primitive Baptist Church, finds his faith shaken in the wake of his son's murder at the hands of a New Jersey State Trooper.  In “Missing the Mighty Mites,” a small boy experiences the gulf between his desire for belonging and an unattainable baseball cap. In “On the Death of My Father,” a grown man struggles to love a father who had been damaged by the missing love in his own life.