Black History Month II: Focus on Literature

In The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Literature, winner of the Before Columbus Foundations 2006 American Book Awards, Darryl Dickson-Carr has written a definitive guide to contemporary African American literature from Ishmael Reed and Toni Morrison to Colson Whitehead and Terry McMillan. Dr. Andrew Radford, Journal of American Studies, writes of the volume “An eloquent and perceptive overview of this rapidly expanding world.” Bernard W. Bell, African-American Review, says of the book, “A valuable reference book that promotes the knowledge of and respect for African American post-1970s literatures and cultures.”

The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Literature is part of the Columbia Guides to Literature Since 1945 series.

In Burnin’ Down the House: Home in African American Literature, Valerie Sweeney Prince reexamines the meaning of home in the work of five classic novels: Native Son by Richard Wright, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, and Corregidora by Gayl Jones. The book also explores how the blues have shaped these novels and African American literature.