Description
Book SynopsisThe Sisterhood tells the story of how a remarkable community of Black women writers transformed American writing and cultural institutions.
Trade ReviewOne of the "Most Anticipated" Books of 2023 * The Millions *
One of "30 books we can’t wait to read this fall" * Los Angeles Times *
A "Must-Read Book" of Fall 2023 * Town & Country Magazine *
An LJ Review Editors' Fall Pick * Library Journal *
One of the "Best Black History Books of 2023" * Black Perspectives *
Starting with a photograph, Courtney Thorsson brings her all to this luminous work about The Sisterhood, a group of Black women writers who met informally in the 1970s. Together they transformed American literature and helped to shape generations of writers, visual artists, filmmakers, and scholars. This is a profoundly important story, and it has found an astute and sensitive author in Thorsson. -- Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of
In Search of a Beautiful Freedom: New and Selected EssaysIf a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photograph that inspired Courtney Thorsson’s immensely perceptive
The Sisterhood should be valued in the millions. The Black women who made up The Sisterhood represented the greatest creative minds of the last half century. Today we see them as literary ‘Super Friends,’ but back in 1977 many were struggling artists whose friendship, generosity, and support for one another enabled them all to fly. And the literary, cultural, political, and academic worlds we now inhabit are better for it. -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American OriginalProceeding from an archive of one iconic photograph of The Sisterhood, 1977, Courtney Thorsson has pieced together the story of how Black women writers, in intimate and collaborative gatherings throughout New York in the 1970s, created literary history. It is an indispensable, fascinating, and original history and one that might have been lost without Thorsson’s loving and meticulous archival work. -- Mary Helen Washington, author of
The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950sThe Sisterhood offers an indispensable history of Black women’s writing and organizing. Thorsson’s painstakingly researched story of The Sisterhood
reaches far beyond the now-famous 1977 photo on the book's cover. In these tenderly written pages, Thorsson reveals an entire history of contemporary Black feminism and the writers, editors, organizers, and dreamers who shepherded it. This is an essential contribution to Black feminist thought and American literary history. -- Erica R. Edwards, author of
The Other Side of Terror: Black Women and the Culture of US EmpireRichly detailed . . . A well-documented contribution to Black literary history. * Kirkus Reviews *
A scintillating snapshot of a significant moment in American literature. * Publishers Weekly *
A fascinating, empowering look at how Black women writers collaborated to move their own needle in the publishing industry and academia. * Library Journal *
The Sisterhood is an important record of what the Sisterhood was — and the work it did . . . Highly recommended, for everyone. -- Jacqueline Nyathi * The Sunday Long Read *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. “Revolution Is Not a One-Time Event”
2. “An Association of Black Women Who Are Writers/poets/artists”
3. “To Move the Needle in Black Women’s Lives”
4. “A Community of Writers Even if They Only Slap Five Once a Month”
5. “A Regular Profusion of Certain / Unidentified Roses”
6. “The Function of Freedom Is to Free Somebody Else”
7. “Making Use of Being Used”
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Permissions
Appendix 1. Members of The Sisterhood
Appendix 2. Meetings of The Sisterhood
Notes
Index
