Rev. Richard Propes is an award-winning activist/writer from Indianapolis, Indiana. The founder of the Tenderness Network, an Indiana-based child advocacy group, Propes is also an award-winning poet, playwright and film critic. Propes recently started "The Independent Critic," a web community devoted to film criticism, interviews and social action dedicated to peace and justice issues. He also has a sister site, Everyone's a Critic, where you can write reviews and rate movies.

Propes has been awarded the Etheridge Knight Festival's Poetry Prize, and has had four plays produced in Indiana. Winner of the highest awards for community service in both Indiana and Kentucky, Propes was awarded the nation's highest award for child abuse prevention efforts, the Donna J. Stone Award, in 2005. Widely recognized for his intense, yet heartfelt semi-autobiographical poetry about his experiences with childhood sexual abuse, Propes' first collection "Imaginary Crimes" has had several of its poems reprinted in multiple publications. Propes is also the author of "The Secret Heart" and is finishing up work on his latest collection.

Through his non-profit organization, the Tenderness Network, Propes is working to bring to life "Words of Hope," a used bookstore designed exclusively to raise funds for non-profit organizations and to promote the works of authors who might otherwise go unnoticed.

For more information on the Tenderness Network, visit the Network's Shoutlife page at:

http://www.shoutlife.com/tendernessnetwork

If you would like your short or feature film reviewed, please submit it to:

The Independent Critic
5115 Devon Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46226

Submitted DVD's are not returned, however, all copyright laws are strictly adhered to.