Description
Book SynopsisThis essential volume provides an overview of and introduction to African American writers and literary periods from their beginnings through the 21st century. This compact encyclopedia, aimed at students, selects the most important authors, literary movements, and key topics for them to know. Entries cover the most influential and highly regarded African American writers, including novelists, playwrights, poets, and nonfiction writers. The book covers key periods of African American literaturesuch as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the Civil Rights Eraand touches on the influence of the vernacular, including blues and hip hop. The volume provides historical context for critical viewpoints including feminism, social class, and racial politics. Entries are organized A to Z and provide biographies that focus on the contributions of key literary figures as well as overviews, background information, and definitions for key subjects.
Trade ReviewHighly recommended for high school and undergraduate libraries. * Booklist *
Overall, a useful option for its target audience: students. The entries will be accessible to high schoolers, and possibly younger students, as well as college-level readers, who will learn much from the coverage of varied genres, from mystery, romance, and horror, influenced by African American writers. * Library Journal *
Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, high school students, and general readers. * Choice *
Table of ContentsIntroduction,
Chronology,
A–Z ENTRIES Angelou, Maya (1928–2014), Autobiography, Baldwin, James (1924–1987), Baraka, Amiri (1934–2014), Black Arts Movement (1960–1970), Blues Poetry, Bontemps, Arna (1902–1973), Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917–2000), Butler, Octavia E. (1947–2006), Chesnutt, Charles Waddell (1858–1932), Children's Literature, Clifton, Lucille (1936–2010), Coates, Ta-Nehisi (1975–), Cooper, Anna Julia Haywood (1858/1859–1964), Craft, William (1824–1900) and Ellen Smith Craft (1826–1891), Crafts, Hannah (1830?–?), Crime and Mystery Fiction, Cullen, Countee (1903–1946), Danticat, Edwidge (born 1969), Delany, Martin R. (1812–1885), Delany, Samuel R. (1942–), Dialect Poetry, Douglass, Frederick (1818–1895), Dove, Rita (1952–), Drama, Du Bois, W.E.B. (1868–1963), Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872–1906), Elaw, Zilpha (ca. 1790–1873), Ellison, Ralph (1914–1994), Epic Poetry/The Long Poem, Equiano, Olaudah (1745–1797), Essay, E-Zines, E-News, E-Journals, and E-Collections, Fauset, Jessie Redmon (1882–1961), Feminism/Black Feminism, Fisher, Rudolph John Chauncey (1897–1934), Folklore, Formal Verse, Free Verse, Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (1950–), Gay, Roxane (1974–), Gay Literature, Giovanni, Nikki (1943–), Graphic Novels, Grimké, Angelina Weld (1880–1958), Hansberry, Lorraine (1930–1965), Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920–1932), Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins (1825–1911), Hayden, Robert (1913–1980), Hayes, Terrance (1971–), Hemphill, Essex (1957–1995), Hip-Hop, Horror Fiction, Hughes, Langston (1901–1967), Humor, Hurston, Zora Neale (1891–1960), Jacobs, Harriet Ann (1813–1897), Jazz in Literature, Johnson, Georgia Douglas (1886–1966), Johnson, James Weldon (1871–1938), Jones, Gayl (1949–), Jordan, June (1936–2002), King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929–1968), Knight, Etheridge (1931–1991), Komunyakaa, Yusef (1947–), Larsen, Nella (1891–1964), Lesbian Literature, Lorde, Audre (1934–1992), Lyric Poetry, Madhubuti, Haki R. (Don Luther Lee) (1942–), Major, Clarence (1936–), Malcolm X (1925–1965), McKay, Claude (1889–1948), Modernism (ca. 1890–1940), Morrison, Toni (1931–2019), Naylor, Gloria (1950–2016), Novel, Nugent, Richard Bruce (1906–1987), Parks, Suzan-Lori (1963–), Performance Poetry, Perkins-Valdez, Dolen (1973–), Petry, Ann Lane (1908–1997), Poetics, Postmodernism, Poststructuralism, Prison Literature, Protest Literature, Rap, Realism, Reed, Ishmael (1938–), Research Resources: Electronic Works, Research Sources: Reference Works, Rodgers, Carolyn Marie (1945–2010), Romance Novel, Sanchez, Sonia (1934–), Satire, Schuyler, George Samuel (1895–1977), Shange, Ntozake (1948–2018), Short Fiction, Simms, Renee Elizabeth (1966–), Slave Narrative, Smith, Anna Deavere (1950–), Smith, Venture (1728/1729–1805), Spirituals, Terry [Prince], Lucy (ca. 1730–1821), Tolson, Melvin B. (1898–1966), Toomer, Jean (1894–1967), Trickster, Troupe, Quincy Thomas, Jr. (1943–), Truth, Sojourner (1797–1883), Tubman, Harriet Ross (ca. 1820–1913), Vernacular, Walker, Alice (1944–), Walrond, Eric Derwent (1898–1966), Washington, Booker T. (1856–1915), West, Cornel (1953–), West, Dorothy (1907–1998), Wheatley, Phillis (ca. 1753–1784), Wideman, John Edgar (1941–), Wilson, August (1945–2005), Wilson, Harriet E. (1825–1900), Wright, Richard (1908–1960),
General Bibliography and List of Organizations, Museums, and Research Centers,
About the Editors and Contributors,
Index,
