Literary Criticism

McKay's account of his long odyssey from Jamaica to Harlem and then on to France, Britain, North Africa, Russia, and finally back to America. As well as depicting his own experiences, the author describes his encounters with such notable personalities as...

A unique and epic novel describing the African Diasporic immigrant experience conveyed through the protagonist's immersion in American college life, which leads to his alienation from home. Kwakye covers substantial bredth of narrative, reminiscent of...

Take an engrossing deep dive into the cultural influences of Black Panther, from the development of the Marvel Comics character in the 1960s to his current worldwide renown. Black Panther was created in 1966 by the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in...

"I Am Black History" is a compelling and inspiring exploration of the rich tapestry of Black history, celebrating the remarkable contributions, resilience, and triumphs of Black individuals throughout the ages. From ancient civilizations to the present...

From an acclaimed playwright comes "an American masterpiece" (Newsweek) about the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Twilight is a stunning work of "documentary theater" that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of riots following the Rodney King...

This erudite collection of writings from leading lights in the African literary community pays tribute to Ama Ata Aidoo through a broad spectrum of articles and personal memoirs from scholars of different generations and from other literary artists. The...

From Cornelius Eady, one of America's most engaging voices, comes an exciting collection of poetry that at once delineates the arc of the poet's universe and highlights the range of his considerable talents. Cornelius Eady's poems show him in full...

Some comics fans view the industry's Golden Age (1930s-1950s) as a challenging time when it comes to representations of race, an era when the few Black characters appeared as brutal savages, devious witch doctors, or unintelligible minstrels. Yet the...

Here in one volume is a selection of the extraordinary poems of Rita Dove, who, as the nation's Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995, brought poetry into the lives of millions of people. Along with a new introduction and poem, Selected Poems comprises Dove's...

In Annotations Nahum Dimitri Chandler offers a philosophical interpretation of W. E. B. Du Bois's 1897 American Negro Academy address, "The Conservation of Races." Chandler approaches Du Bois as a generative and original philosophical thinker-writer on...

From the National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead, a fascinating collection of graphic reviews and illustrated prose addressing the last century of American poetry Canonized, overlooked, and forgotten African American poets star in Terrance...

First introduced in the pages of X-Men, Storm is probably the most recognized Black female superhero. She is also one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, with abilities that allow her to control the weather itself. Yet that power is...

In Revolutionary Poetics, Sarah RudeWalker details the specific ways that the Black Arts Movement (BAM) achieved its revolutionary goals through rhetorical poetics--in what forms, to what audiences, and to what effect. BAM has had far-reaching influence,...

Welfare queen, hot momma, unwed mother: these stereotypes of Black women share their historical conception in the image of the Black woman as domestic. Focusing on the issue of stereotypes, the new edition of Trudier Harris's classic 1982 study From...

An engaging examination of Black Girl Magic and its significance in American literatureIn Light and Legacies, author Janaka Bowman Lewis examines Black girlhood in American literature from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The representation of...