Over at Lit Hub, Calvin Baker laments the segregated state of American literature in the 21st century—a result, he says, of literary institutions’ conformity to the status quo: The status quo imagines itself humanist and enlightened, but is anchored by fear and conformity. An interlocking system of publishing conglomerates, universities and media that have been […]
...moreWriting for Publishers Weekly, William J. Maxwell examines the 1,884-page FBI file on James Baldwin—the longest on record—as part of his effort to obtain surveillance information on African American authors through the Freedom of Information Act. Along with reports on literary giants like Lorraine Hansberry and Amiri Baraka, Baldwin’s file reveals a complex relationship between […]
...moreIt is technically no longer what Carleen Brice calls “National Buy a Book By A Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month,” but Black History Month seems as good a time as any to link to her most recent blog post about it. Brice came up with the idea in 2008, after […]
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