John Edgar Wideman is an award-winning author and just the second African-American to be named a Rhodes Scholar to the University of Oxford. The Pittsburgh native was born in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 1941 in Washington, D.C. Wideman grew up in the middle-class Black neighborhood of Homewood and later moved to Shadyside, a mostly […]
LONDON (AP) — Tayari Jones won the Women’s Prize for fiction on Wednesday with “An American Marriage,” her story of a family torn apart by the U.S. judicial system. The American writer’s best-selling novel – selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club and praised by ex-president Barack Obama – centers on a successful African-American […]
Author, scholar and activist bell hooks has emerged as one of the leading feminist figures of her era, and her writing and scholarly work has been studied by many budding feminists and activists for decades. Today is hooks’ birthday. Born Gloria Jean Watkins in Hopskinsville, Ky. in 1952 she graduated from Stanford University and the University […]
The late Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian author who put his nation and the continent of Africa on the literary map by way of his debut novel, Things Fall Apart. Today is Achebe’s birthday and also the 60th year since the publication of his globally celebrated work. Albert Chinualumogua Achebe was born in British-occupied Nigeria […]
Newark Public Library The name Hughes Allison isn’t widely known but at a time, he was one of the most promising Black writers of his era. Allison’s most notable milestone as a writer is that he crafted the first Black detective story, which was part of his larger aim to shatter Black stereotypes in mainstream […]
We’re coming to the end of Black History Month and our tribute to books and authors. So what better way to wrap things up than to offer our picks for the top 10 Black authors you should be reading. No, this is not a comprehensive list – we keep telling you 10 choices is not […]
Black music has sustained us since even before we arrived on American shores. It’s been our celebration, our satisfaction, our baby-making music, and even our call to action during slavery. Musicians move us through their music of course, but some of their personal stories have also been inspirational. Here are our choices of some of […]
When it comes to Black history books, there are a whole lot to choose from. So getting down to 10, is not just hard, its pretty impossible. So keep in mind, these choices are a mixture of some classics and some new takes on Black history and the list is not meant to be definitive. […]
NEW YORK (AP) — National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward has her next two novels planned. On Wednesday, Scribner told The Associated Press that Ward will write an adult novel about an enslaved woman sent from the Carolinas to New Orleans. She will then work on her first novel for middle graders, a “magical adventure” […]
It’s Black History Month again and this year, we hope our coverage improves your mind or at least expands your reading choices. If you watch this space, you will see a weekly post with new recommendations for books that are classics you may already know or those that we think are well worth your time. […]
Jerry Pinkney, a children’s book author and illustrator, has been internationally recognized for his contribution to the arts. Today is the Philadelphia native’s birthday, and we’re taking a look back at his highly decorated career. Pinkney was born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia in 1939. As a boy, Pinkney suffered from dyslexia and was […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Ta-Nehisi Coates has had enough. The influential author and journalist has deleted his widely followed Twitter account, writing “peace, y’all. I’m out.” Coates had had a contentious exchange with Cornel West, author of “Race Matters.” West had recently called Coates’ views on race simplistic and defeatist. He contended that Coates was […]
