The Next: Meet Toledo's black authors

Book Expo at Frederick Douglass Center brings authors to light

7/5/2018
BY PHILLIP KAPLAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
  • NXT-author-expo

    Toledo Author L.J. Hamilton, with a few of his books, discusses the upcoming Toledo Black Author Expo at the Frederick Douglass Center.

    The Blade/Andy Morrison
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  • At the end of this weekend, after the boom of the July 4th holiday is all drawn out, it is an ideal time for some peace, quiet, and contemplation. 

    On Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Toledo Black Authors Book Expo, you can get to know some people who can help you get to that quiet contemplation.

    “You’ll get to meet each author and they’ll be speaking about their work,” said Lonnie ‘L.J.’ Hamilton, author and event organizer. 

    Many of these authors are relatively unknown, Hamilton said, but no less talented because of it. This free event at Stage One at the Frederick Douglass Community Center  gets you face to face with some of Toledo’s best black literary talent. 

    One such author is Toledo Firefighter Peris DeVohn Edwards. Raised in some of the tougher communities of Toledo’s Central City, Edwards went on to play football at Miami University, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in Family Studies. Edwards saw no other path in his life other than through the NFL, but when that fell apart, he found himself at his life’s nadir.

    Unrelenting, Edwards turned his struggle into power with his pen, writing 365 of Happiness, a book about choosing the way you let life handle you. He lives by the mantra “become more to give more” and his book aims to help you do the same. 

    Edwards will be part of no more than a dozen authors, poets and playwrights on hand for the afternoon.

    VIDEO: L.J. Hamilton previews the Toledo Black Authors Book Expo

    For more information on the next Toledo Black Authors Expo, visit the event page.

    For more episodes of The Next, download Blade NewsSlide at bladenewsslide.com

    Contact Phillip Kaplan at pkaplan@theblade.com, and follow on Twitter @filkap; Andy Morrison may be contacted at amorrison@theblade.com