https://jamesbernardjames.com/home daily 1.0 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1576470486862-6RN07GD7MMN4SILQRQM5/BW2.jpg Yard https://jamesbernardjames.com/shortfiction daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1576465734196-F3E28XVT5FIK5UB96YSU/JakeandLulaProse.JPG Prose - Edible Parts Completed/Unpublished “Edible Parts” is a composite novel of generational narratives which chronicle my family’s oral tradition through a lyrical presentation of emancipation, transition, and ancestral bond. The collection spans the liberation of my great grandfather during Sherman’s Carolina campaign, up to, and following the period of the Great Migration, the catalyst that serves as the backdrop for my family’s transition from South Carolina sharecroppers to laborers seeking better opportunities in the factories and mills of the north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1648ba5f-c26a-4584-8993-5eb7b9843d4c/Owamni+%283%29.jpg Prose - Keeper of Forgotten Things Novel In Progress “Keeper of Forgotten Things” chronicles the misadventures of a former college athlete, now homeless on the streets of Minneapolis. Four-Star recruit Reginald Dwayne Carson was destined for a promising career, but the same anger management issues that limited his scholarship opportunities coming out of high school ultimately led to his expulsion from the University of Tulsa after an allegation of sexual abuse. Now, disaffected and destitute, Reggie embarks on a journey of redemption and self-reflection as he is forced to take responsibility for past mistakes and a lifetime of future challenges. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/95900ac5-2696-441f-8975-982c92b71e9b/stained+glass.jpg Prose - Jukebox Love Songs Completed/Unpublished ”Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.” - Jean-Michel Basquiat I believe poetry is the continuum … SELECTIONS Arc de Triomphe (The Bridge) Track 01 More than A Love Supreme Track 02 Barber Chops Track 03 Soul Train Saturday Mornin’ Track 04 Joyeux Anniversaire rue de Chartres Track 05 Vivaldi’s Fifth Season Track 06 Black Texas 2 Step Track 07 English Beat Track 08 Sweet Thang Track 09 The Age of Sagittarius Track 10 Kiss Track 11 Return of the MAC Track 12 I Want to Hug Your Shadow Track 13 Finding Water in the Unlikeliest Place Track 14 An Epistle to the Lovely Congregants Track 15 The Night Beyoncé Revoked Informed Consent Track 16 https://jamesbernardjames.com/about daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/6317e565-1763-4093-adae-7da7b7899d88/I+See+You+4.jpg About - The Artist The impulse to “take pencil to paper” has always been strong for me. When I was four years old, my mother bought a sketch book and a set of pencils to dissuade me from scribbling on the walls, and the inside covers of her books. Since then, I have been engaged one form of creative expression or another, wherein I attempt to translate images and feelings into new ideas. Shortly after completed my undergraduate studies, there was a (too long) period during which the sketchbooks stayed closed, and my pencils remained inactive. They sat in a container on a shelf inside a closet in my home. I’d been searching for perfection, and unable to find it, I found myself disillusioned with the process. Over time I’ve learned to make peace with my imperfection. I believe my art—like my writing—is a gift, one that must be cultivated and put to good use. Graphite and colored pencils are my mediums of choice. There are exceptions, but the majority of my pieces fall into what I consider to be smaller, more “manageable” renderings on 16X20 illustration board. In addition to honoring ancestry and Blackness, I’m currently interested in exploring themes that live at the intersection of my twin passions of literature and art. “Married to Trouble,” “Harlem Girls,” and “Arc de Triomphe (The Bridge)” are a few recent examples of this approach. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1ecd12ed-4888-41fd-b421-d98759e91dc3/GWDU5774.jpg About - The Writer As a writer, I was a late bloomer. Unlike the drawings, telling stories wasn’t always something I aspired to do, but it was something (according to others) I did well. The decision to use a nom de plume stemmed from a basic desire for anonymity, but I believe the fact that I chose not to stray too far from my actual identify revealed something deeper about what the writing meant to me. I answer to multiple names, depending on whether we grew up together, went to college together, or met as creatives during workshop and fellowship opportunities. Bernard, including its Bernie and Bern derivatives, represents the unmasked, most vulnerable version of myself. While it’s no longer an explicit goal, my drawings still yearn for an adjacency to perfection, but what I write thrives at the opposite end of that spectrum, and facing my imperfections is not something I could honestly do as anyone other than Bernard. Writing under the pseudonym Bernard James, my singular ambition as a writer is to produce smart, expressive, and culturally authentic content that captures the wide spectrum of aspirations and challenges encountered by persons of color. On this site’s Read Me page, you can find examples of my work and the journals who were kind enough to publish them. I was born in Pennsylvania and for the past 40+ years have resided in MniSota , but my ancestral roots—the soil that holds my family’s blood and bone—are in South Carolina, and it is from this vantage point that I choose to engage with the page. https://jamesbernardjames.com/publications daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/5f44bc1c-73d9-4da9-bcc8-de73ab340766/Library.jpg Read Me - In Print and Online “10,000 Lakes and Good Medicine” Prairie Schooner Fall 2026 “Dispatches from the Man Hut” The New Guard Bang! Winter 2022 “Interstice” The New Guard Bang! Winter 2022 “Aqua Boogie” Blood Orange Review Spring 2020 “L'Étoile du Nord (For George)” Rain Taxi 2020 “Pox (for Philando)” Action, Spectacle Summer 2020 Issue “Up Country Two Countries” Auburn Avenue 2018 Autumn/Winter “Edible Parts” Callaloo 2018 Spring/Summer Issue “Unsullied” The New Guard 2018 Summer Issue “Rootwork” Blood Orange Review Dec 2017 Issue “Black Texas” McNeese Review 2017 Annual Print Issue “Universal, Relatable, Simple” Smoke Long Quarterly Flash Back Series Dec 2016 “Anniversaire sur la rue de Chartres” Columbia Journal Mar 2016 “Jazzcestors ” Columbia Journal Mar 2016 “Heads and Tails” Killens Review of Arts & Letters Fall/Winter Issue 2015 "Fortifications for a Wobbly Bridge: Race Consciousness across the Black Diasporic Continuum" SX Salon – A Small Axe Literary Platform Issue #14, Nov 2013 https://jamesbernardjames.com/read-me-om daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377097104716-HDI53XJVV0DKZ24A3T68/51e453dee4b06abd3403c22e.png Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096775448-0L7B4Q54H1VLOGFF1DPR/synthetica+%2820130821%29.jpg Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096507573-1MU42OOOOGIM9URAJ9D9/515c4225e4b0afec1218b21e.png Read Me https://jamesbernardjames.com/classes-alt-om daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://jamesbernardjames.com/the-art daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224160175-57DBUKNNFBF8TCF0DSAR/BW_PRINT_16x20_Call+and+Response.jpg The Art - Call and Response Graphite on Illustration Board 16X20 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition / 300 GSM PhotoSatin Quality Archival Print https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224190661-78IU9AWJ2LFU9ID66OUX/PRINT_36x24_JackAndJill.jpg The Art - Jack and Jill 12X16 Graphite and Layered Colored Pencil on Cartridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224208237-4NIW7W44HZBS2XHHRHXH/Red_18x24_Married+to+Trouble.jpg The Art - Married to Trouble 16X20 Graphite on Illustration Board with Sepia Filter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224223493-XAWQYAC5KFBNLHHOC5PR/PRINT_16x20_Gumbolaya.jpg The Art - Gumbolaya 16X20 Graphite on Illustration Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224256030-FU41IZ79UJP0UYOKAKOX/Pre-Final+Image+10.jpeg The Art - Harlem Girls 30X20 Layered Colored Pencil on Illustration Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/1789224287423-T6NZASV9R77YQ5CSRDVQ/Arc+de+Triomphe.jpeg The Art - Arc de Triomphe (The Bridge) 16X20 Graphite and Layered Colored Pencil on Illustration Board https://jamesbernardjames.com/in-person daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/24ccdfd0-6ab6-4d04-93f4-e937c966a445/IMG_0196.JPG Find Me - Twin Cities 2027 SOUTHSIDE WE OUTSIDE NEMAA/ART-A-WHIRL/OPEN STUDIO MINNEHAHA ART FAIR LORING PARK ART FESTIVAL RONDO AFAM ARTS DISTRICT MN JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL For updates/inquiries/information: 4@jamesbernardjames.com https://jamesbernardjames.com/call-and-response daily 0.75 2026-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5df6e6f488a9697f288879f2/24ccdfd0-6ab6-4d04-93f4-e937c966a445/IMG_0196.JPG Call and Response - Twin Cities 2027 SOUTHSIDE WE OUTSIDE NEMAA/ART-A-WHIRL/OPEN STUDIO MINNEHAHA ART FAIR LORING PARK ART FESTIVAL RONDO AFAM ARTS DISTRICT MN JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL For updates/inquiries/information: 4@jamesbernardjames.com