Belated heavenly birthday wishes Dorothy West! Born June 2, 1907, Dorothy West was an African American novelist, short-story writer, and magazine editor associated with the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s that celebrated black art, literature, and music. She passed away in 1998. Her most notable works are The Wedding and The Living is Easy.
Happy birthday Jesmyn Ward! Born April 1, 1977, Jesmyn Ward won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction for her second novel Salvage the Bones. Other books are:
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was born in Portland, Maine in 1859. She was a playwright, journalist, novelist, historian, editor, feminist, public intellectual, supporter of the arts, and an outspoken crusader for African American rights. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes and is best known for her 1900 novel Contending Forces: A Romance of Negro Life North and South.
Celebrating his 83rd birthday March 22, Houston A. Baker, Jr. is a scholar s an American scholar specializing in African-American literature and Distinguished University Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Here are a few of his books:
Earlier this month, our book club met to discuss the book Erasure by Percival Everett. Erasure was adapted to a movie titled “American Fiction.” I did not see the movie, although it did receive good reviews. Erasure is an excellent book and in my humble opinion, I think Percival Everett is brilliant. The complexity of characters, the theme of black identity, and what does not black enough mean, the publishing industry marketing of African American novels, family, love relationships, the novel within the novel just made this book part satire and very thought provoking. A must read!
NPR reviewed this book. Read the review here:
Today, February 9, Alice Walker celebrates her 82nd birthday! Known for The Color Purple, Alice Walker has written essays, novels, and poetry. A few are show below. To read more about her, click here.
Born January 25, Gloria Naylor was an award winning novelist. She was named the winner of the National Book Award, first novel, Women of Brewster Place. She passed away in 2016. Read more about this award-winning author here:
A few of her well-known novels:
The Women of Brewster Place
Mama Day
Linden Hills
Bailey’s Cafe
Born January 21, Mary Helen Washington is an African American literary scholar who is the author of numerous books on the African-American female experience.
Her most notable books are can be found here:
Born January 14, John Oliver Killens wrote several novels, two of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction: And Then We Heard the Thunder and The Cotillion, or One Good Bull is Half the Herd. More information about John Oliver Killens can be found here
Born January 15, 1933, Ernest J. Gaines is an African American author of eight novels and several short stories. Three novels became movies: A Lesson Before Dying, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and A Gathering of Old Men. One short story, The Sky is Gray, was adapted for a movie. More information about his books can be found here
There is also an award given to a rising African American author: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 