Sixty Years of Great Books by African-Americans

SCORES of African-Americans have written major books since the inception of EBONY in 1945. Some of them are listed below. The bulk the titles were compiled from the results of an unscientific poll of writers and critics conducted for our 60th Anniversary. EBONY BookShelf added recent books.

BLACK BOY: A RECORD Of CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH (Harper & Brothers, 1945), a semiautobiographical novel that explores author Richard Wright's life in Mississippi until he moved to Memphis. Also important is Wrights searing novel NATIVE SON, an intense story of oppression and urban rage set in Chicago and published in 1940, five years before the beginning of EBONY in Chicago.

INVISIBLE MAN (Random House, 1952), by Ralph Ellison, is known as one of the 20th century's most important works of fiction.

THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1995), a rich and varied volume of 860 poems, written by the Poet Laureate of Black America, edited by Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN: A DRAMA IN THREE ACTS (Random House, 1959), the landmark play about a beleaguered Black family living in Chicago, by Lorraine Hansberry.

THE FIRE NEXT TIME (Dial, 1963), the best collection of essays since the publication of W. E. B. DuBois' 1903 publication, THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK, by James Baldwin. In another classic by Baldwin, GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1953), Baldwin tells a rich story about the religious …

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Publication information: Article title: Sixty Years of Great Books by African-Americans. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: Ebony. Volume: 61. Issue: 1 Publication date: November 2005. Page number: 42+. © 1999 Johnson Publishing Co. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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