Jim Blackburn & Isabelle Scurry Chapman

Brazos Book of the Month July 2010

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

The Imperfectionists is about the quirky, maddening, endearing people who write and read an international newspaper based in Rome: from the obituary reporter who will do anything to avoid work, to the young freelancer who is manipulated by an egocentric war correspondent, to the dog-obsessed publisher who seems less interested in his struggling newspaper than in his magnificent basset hound, Schopenhauer.

For its staff, the true front-page stories are their own private lives. As this imperfect bunch stumbles along, the era of high terror and high tech bears down, the characters collide, and the novel hurtles toward its climax…

Click here for more information on the book.

Jim Blackburn & Isabelle Scurry Chapman

Start: October 11, 2009 - 4:00pm

End: October 11, 2009 - 6:00pm

Jim Blackburn and Isabelle Scurry Chapman's new book, Birds: A Collection of Verse and Vision, is a collection of Scurry Chapman’s art and Blackburn’s poetry about birds and the relationship of humans and the natural system.

Isabelle Scurry Chapman has been creating Earth-centered art with a strong spiritual core for years. In this book, her portraits of various birds of the Texas coastal region are featured along with Blackburn’s view of the coast from his kayak as well as from his perspective as an environmental lawyer. Together, the poetry and the art focus the reader on the connection between humans and birds and the natural system.

Spirituality is a constant theme of the verse and the vision set out in the book. The concept of the Earth as a church and all living things being related underpins the book and will be a featured part of the reading and discussion. The book and the discussion will highlight connectuality, a term Blackburn created for a presentation at the Rothko Chapel in Houston.

Scurry Chapman paints out of her studio in Houston and has been awarded the Mid-America National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. Two of her public art pieces are on display in downtown Houston. Blackburn has won numerous awards for his work as an environmental lawyer, and teaches at Rice University where he heads the minor in sustainable development. In 2004, Texas A&M Press published Blackburn’s The Book of Texas Bays.

Please join Brazos Bookstore in celebrating the release of Birds: A Collection of Verse and Vision with a reading and wine reception with the Jim Blackburn and Isabelle Scurry Chapman. Their lovely book is a work of art and Brazos is thrilled to make it available.