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Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers [Two Volumes]
Yolanda Williams Page, ed.
ISBN: 0-313-33429-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33429-0
728 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 1/30/2007
List Price: $175.00 (UK Sterling Price: £120.95)
Discount Price: $87.50 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Subjects: Awards:
  • New York Library Association Best Reference 2007
Reviews:
  • "Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers has entries on 168 African American (and some Caribbean) female authors who published works from 1746 to 2006. The coverage of literary genres is broad and makes this an important contribution to the field....The intended audience includes advanced high-school through undergraduate students as well as graduate students and researchers in the preliminary research stages. Many of the authors are well known (for example, Maya Angelou), while others are obscure writers (for example, Susie King Taylor) who the editor believes should be brought to the attention of students and scholars. A table of contents and two lists of authors, the first organized by genre and the second by date, precede the alphabetic entries. Each entry includes sections for Biographical Narrative, Major Works, Critical Reception, and Bibliography (subdivided into Works and Studies of Works)....[h]ighly recommended for public, high-school, and academic libraries."
    —Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
    June 1 & 15, 2007
  • "Each A-to-Z entry, which spans 750 to 5000 words, profiles the writer, discusses major works, surveys critical reception, and includes a bibliography consisting of a list of the authors works and a list of studies of those works. The writers featured range from the established and popular to the overlooked or newly emerging and include Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, and Jamaica Kincaid. Appendixes contain a list of major literary awards, alphabetical and chronological lists of authors, and, at the works close, a selected general bibliography and an index. They also catalog authors according to their genrese.g., autobiography, drama, essay, fiction, poetry, cultural/literary theory, and children/YA. Other works treating this same subject are of a lesser status than Pages title, impressive for its critical and scholarly representation of a growing and important group. Fit for public, community college, and university libraries"
    —Library Journal
    5/1/2007
  • "Useful and certain to excite interest, this reference contains entries on 168 writers of African-American descent writing in all forms, including autobiography, poetry, children's literature, and criticism. The entries, which are written to be accessible to the advanced high school student and higher, give a biography of the writer, describe the major works and their reception. Each entry concludes with an exhaustive bibliography of the writer's works and secondary sources. An appendix provides a full list of literary awards and their recipients, as well as a bibliography of further sources."
    —Reference & Research Book News
    May 2007
  • "This wide-ranging set provides both biographical and critical information in an accessible set. Covering the 18th through 21st centuries, it includes novelists, playwrights, poets, essayists, and authors of children's works. Each entry is individually penned and has a section on the life of the writer, her major works, critical responses to them, and a bibliography of both primary and secondary sources....[a] welcome addition for students and others interested in this gifted group."
    —School Library Journal
    August 2007
  • "Greenwood's new 2-volume set covers over 150 African American women novelists, poets, essayists, dramatists, and literary critics in over 1,000 pages of text. Entries are in alphabetical order, and range from just a few pages for lesser-known writers to ten pages or so for more well-known personages such as Alice Walker or Toni Morrison. Each author entry contains subsections titled Biographical Narrative, Major Works, Critical Reception, and Bibliography (which in turn offers Works by and Studies of listings)....[t]his is a very good resource for users at many levels--straightforward enough to be used by undergraduates and even high school students, but detailed and deep enough to be useful to graduate and faculty researchers as well. Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."
    —Choice
    9/1/2007
  • "To the busy scholar in literature today all encyclopedias are helpful in providing doorways to authors of all kinds. This one, however, is especially welcome because though it is not the first on the subject it is the fullest....The two volumes are a necessity on the shelves of all people interested in literature or black culture."
    —Journal of American Cultures
    September 2007
  • "The range of authors represented in this encyclopedia is what ensures this work stands out, making it a significant contribution to the literature about African American writers. Aimed at advanced school level upward it would be a useful addition to school and public libraries."
    —Reference Reviews
    Spring 2008
Description: African American women writers published extensively during the Harlem Renaissance and have been extraordinarily prolific since the 1970s. This book surveys the world of African American women writers. Included are alphabetically arranged entries on more than 150 novelists, poets, playwrights, short fiction writers, autobiographers, essayists, and influential scholars. The Encyclopedia covers established contemporary authors such as Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor, along with a range of neglected and emerging figures. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and provides a brief biography, a discussion of major works, a survey of the author's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. Literature students will value this book for its exploration of African American literature, while social studies students will appreciate its examination of social issues through literature.

African American women writers have made an enormous contribution to our culture. Many of these authors wrote during the Harlem Renaissance, a particularly vital time in African American arts and letters, while others have been especially active since the 1970s, an era in which works by African American women are adapted into films and are widely read in book clubs. Literature by African American women is important for its aesthetic qualities, and it also illuminates the social issues which these authors have confronted. This book conveniently surveys the lives and works of African American women writers.

Included are alphabetically arranged entries on more than 150 African American women novelists, poets, playwrights, short fiction writers, autobiographers, essayists, and influential scholars. Some of these figures, such as Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor, are among the most popular authors writing today, while others have been largely neglected or are recently emerging.

Each entry provides a biography, a discussion of major works, a survey of the writer's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. The Encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography. Students and general readers will welcome this guide to the rich achievement of African American women. Literature students will value its exploration of the works of these writers, while social studies students will appreciate its examination of the social issues these women confront in their works.
Title Features:
  • Includes entries on more than 150 African American women novelists, poets, playwrights, autobiographers, essayists, influential scholars, and short fiction writers
  • Provides a selected, general bibliography
  • Includes alphabetical and chronological lists of authors
  • Lists authors according to the genres in which they worked
  • Lists winners of major literary awards
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    List of Authors by Genre
    Chronological List of Authors
    Albert, Octavia Victoria Rogers
    Allen, Clarissa Minnie Thompson
    Allen, Sarah A.
    Anderson, Mignon Holland
    Angelou, Maya
    Ansa, Tina McElroy
    Austin, Doris Jean
    Baker, Nikki
    Bambara, Toni Cade
    Bennett, Gwendolyn
    Bonner, Marita
    Boyd, Candy Dawson
    Braxton, Joanne
    Brooks, Gwendolyn
    Brown, Linda Beatrice
    Burton, Annie
    Bush-Banks, Olivia Ward
    Butler, Octavia
    Caines, Jeannette Franklin
    Campbell, Bebe Moore
    Chase-Riboud, Barbara
    Childress, Alice
    Christian, Barbara T.
    Cleage, Pearl T.
    Cliff, Michelle
    Clifton, Lucille
    Coleman, Wanda
    Collier, Eugenia W.
    Collins, Kathleen Conwell
    Cooper, Anna Julia Hayward
    Cooper, J. California
    Cortez, Jayne
    Danner, Margaret Esse
    Danticat, Edwidge
    Davenport, Doris
    Davis, Angela Y.
    Delaney, Lucy
    Derricote, Toi(nette) Marie
    De Veaux, Alexis
    Dixon, Edwina Streeter
    Dove, Rita
    Drumgoold, Kate
    Du Bois, Shirley Graham
    Dunbar-Nelson, Alice
    Edwards-Yearwood, Grace
    Elaw, Zilpha
    Evans, Mari
    Fabio, Sarah Webster
    Fauset, Jessie Redmon
    Ferrell, Carolyn
    Fields, Julia
    Foote, Julia A. J.
    Gaines, Patrice
    Gibson, Patricia Joann
    Gilbert, Mercedes
    Giovanni, Nikki
    Golden, Marita
    Gomez, Jewelle
    Greenfield, Eloise
    Grimk, Angelina Weld
    Guy, Rosa
    Guy-Sheftall, Beverly
    Hackley, Madame Emma Azalia Smith
    Hamilton, Virginia
    Hansberry, Lorraine
    Hansen, Joyce
    Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins
    Harrison, Juanita
    Henderson-Holmes, Safiya
    Herron, Carolivia
    Hodges, Frenchy Jolene
    Hooks, Bell
    Hopkins, Pauline Elizabeth
    Hurston, Zora Neale
    Jackson, Angela
    Jackson, Elaine
    Jackson, Mae
    Jackson, Mattie Jane
    Jacobs, Harriet Ann
    Johnson, Amelia E.
    Johnson, Georgia Douglas
    Johnson, Helen
    Jones, Gayl
    Jordan, June
    Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs
    Kennedy, Adrienne
    Kincaid, Jamaica
    Lane, Pinkie Gordon
    Larsen, Nella
    Lattany, Kristin Hunter
    Lee, Andrea
    Lee, Helen Elaine
    Lee, Jarena
    Lorde, Audra Geraldine
    Madgett, Naomi Long
    Marshall, Paule
    Mathis, Sharon Bell
    Matthews, Victoria Earle
    McElroy, Colleen J.
    McKissack, Patricia
    Meriwether, Louise
    Miller, May
    Millican, Arthenia J. Bates
    Monroe, Mary
    Moody, Anne
    Moore, Opal J.
    Morrison, Toni
    Mossell, Gertrude Bustill
    Mullen, Harryette
    Murphy, Beatrice
    Murray, Pauli
    Naylor, Gloria
    Neely, Barbara
    Oliver, Diane
    Osbey, Brenda Marie
    Parker, Pat
    Parks, Suzan-Lori
    Plato, Ann
    Porter, Connie
    Potter, Eliza
    Prince, Mary
    Prince, Nancy
    Rahman, Aishah
    Randall, Alice
    Ray, Henrietta Cordelia
    Rhodes, Jewell Parker
    Rodgers, Carolyn Marie
    Saloy, Mona Lisa
    Sanchez, Sonia
    Sanders, Dori
    Seacole, Mary
    Shaik, Fatima
    Shange, Ntozake
    Shockley, Ann Allen
    Smith, Amanda Berry
    Southerland, Ellease
    Stewart, Maria W.
    Summers, Barbara
    Tarry, Ellen
    Tate, Claudia
    Taylor, Mildred D.
    Taylor, Susie King
    Teasley, Lisa
    Terry, Lucy
    Thomas, Joyce Carol
    Thomas, Era Bell
    Tillman, Katherine Davis Chapman
    Todd, Ruth D.
    Vroman, Mary Elizabeth
    Wade-Gayles, Gloria
    Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
    Walker, Alice
    Walker, Margaret
    Walter, Mildred Pitts
    Wells-Barnett, Ida B.
    West, Dorothy
    Wheatley, Phyllis
    White, Paulette Childress
    Wilkinson, Brenda
    Williams, Fannie Barrier
    Williams, Sherley Anne
    Wilson, Harriet E.
    Wright, Sarah Elizabeth
    Youngblood, Shay
    Appendix: List of Author Awards
    General Bibliography
    Index
    About the Editor and the Contributors
About the Author: Yolanda Williams Page is Associate Professor of English, Theatre, and Mass Communications at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Prior to that position she worked at Dillard University, where she served as Assistant Dean of Humanities and was an associate professor of English.
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