Welcome to the Nia Network: A Program Bureau, a division of Celeste Bateman & Associates. The program bureau features visual and performing artists, historians, writers and motivational speakers of African descent who present in various venues nationally and internationally. CB&A has compiled a roster of extraordinarily talented individuals who are available to perform and present at colleges and universities, performing arts centers, schools, churches, corporations, festivals, trade shows, etc. What makes this program bureau unique is that all of the participants present topics and art forms pertaining to the African Diaspora.
Nia is the Swahili word for ‘purpose.’ Our purpose is to promulgate what is rich and positive about African, Caribbean, and African-American culture, history, heritage and art. For booking information, email us at info@celestebateman.com or call 973.705.8253.
PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to take on additional artists/speakers at this time, but please feel free to forward your information for future consideration.
Nia is the Swahili word for ‘purpose.’ Our purpose is to promulgate what is rich and positive about African, Caribbean, and African-American culture, history, heritage and art. For booking information, email us at info@celestebateman.com or call 973.705.8253.
PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to take on additional artists/speakers at this time, but please feel free to forward your information for future consideration.
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Sandra L. West
Sandra L. West, lecturer and writer, specializes in the Harlem Renaissance era. She has written many articles about the period, in addition to the well-received Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (2003). The book recently won the New Jersey Notable Book Award 1999-2005.
West grew up in New Jersey and New York, with a residential stint in Harlem on 119th Street. She graduated from Rutgers University (English and African American Studies) and Goucher College (Nonfiction Writing). With her B.A. and M.F.A. degrees, she teaches, writes, and lectures around the country.
Since 1989, Professor West has taught Creative Writing, African American Literature, World Literature, and a course on the political poetry of Claude McKay and Langston Hughes -- two Harlem Renaissance writers -- at Seton Hall, Virginia Commonwealth and Rutgers Universities. Her speaking engagements have taken her to Countee Cullen Library in Harlem, and to various book stores, colleges, high schools, and community centers.
Ms. West is a personable, informative, and engaging storyteller of Harlem Renaissance sayings and doings. In addition to the encyclopedia, she has written about:
* Harlem Renaissance. American Visions magazine.
* Harlem Renaissance dramatists. Black Drama Database,
(Alexander Street Press)
* Contemporary American Women Poets: AN A-Z Guide
(Greenwood Press)
Additionally, as a journalist Ms. West worked for the City of Newark, New Jersey's Information News; Assistant Editor, The Savannah Tribune; and Publisher/Editor, Testimony: A Journal of African American Poetry. She is currently working on a collection of inspirational sayings by the renowned author and poet Dr. Maya Angelou entitled The Grace & Wisdom of Maya Angelou.
As a poet during the Black Arts Movement, Prof. West's verse has been published in Journal of Black Poetry and anthologized in Say That the River Turns: The Impact of Gwendolyn Brooks (Third World Press).
Ms. West is especially interested in helping college students take a "peek" through the keyhole of the Harlem Renaissance, perhaps with a keener eye on those college students enrolled at historically Black institutions.
Prof. West is available for lectures, panel discussions, and book signings.
West grew up in New Jersey and New York, with a residential stint in Harlem on 119th Street. She graduated from Rutgers University (English and African American Studies) and Goucher College (Nonfiction Writing). With her B.A. and M.F.A. degrees, she teaches, writes, and lectures around the country.
Since 1989, Professor West has taught Creative Writing, African American Literature, World Literature, and a course on the political poetry of Claude McKay and Langston Hughes -- two Harlem Renaissance writers -- at Seton Hall, Virginia Commonwealth and Rutgers Universities. Her speaking engagements have taken her to Countee Cullen Library in Harlem, and to various book stores, colleges, high schools, and community centers.
Ms. West is a personable, informative, and engaging storyteller of Harlem Renaissance sayings and doings. In addition to the encyclopedia, she has written about:
* Harlem Renaissance. American Visions magazine.
* Harlem Renaissance dramatists. Black Drama Database,
(Alexander Street Press)
* Contemporary American Women Poets: AN A-Z Guide
(Greenwood Press)
Additionally, as a journalist Ms. West worked for the City of Newark, New Jersey's Information News; Assistant Editor, The Savannah Tribune; and Publisher/Editor, Testimony: A Journal of African American Poetry. She is currently working on a collection of inspirational sayings by the renowned author and poet Dr. Maya Angelou entitled The Grace & Wisdom of Maya Angelou.
As a poet during the Black Arts Movement, Prof. West's verse has been published in Journal of Black Poetry and anthologized in Say That the River Turns: The Impact of Gwendolyn Brooks (Third World Press).
Ms. West is especially interested in helping college students take a "peek" through the keyhole of the Harlem Renaissance, perhaps with a keener eye on those college students enrolled at historically Black institutions.
Prof. West is available for lectures, panel discussions, and book signings.