blacklitnetwork

BLN is a data-rich, platform that strengthens reading cultures and intellectual engagement. Anchored by African American Literary Studies at SIUE.

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Manning Marable and Les Payne have each written award-winning in-depth biographies of the towering figure who is Malcolm X reaching back to his childhood and including new insights from research and interviews with those close to him. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn, set in the 70’s and 80’s, and Tayari Jones’s KIN, set in the 50’s and 60’s in the South, each explore the complex contours of female friendship—and the ways that it is impacted by shifting societal ills and norms. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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In 2016, Ta-Nehisi Coates launched Black Panther, introducing readers to a politically complex Wakanda. Two years later, he expanded that vision with "The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda," taking Black Panther’s story across space and time. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Lucille Clifton’s Collected Poems (1965-2010) and Elizabeth Alexander’s New and Selected Poems (1990-2010) are volumes that capture the breadth and depth of these two influential poets’ oeuvres, one posthumously and one still journeying onward. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Toni Morrison remains a central force in Black literary studies, as evidenced by Dana A. Williams’s Toni at Random and Namwali Serpell’s On Morrison, two books that illuminate different dimensions of Morrison’s life, work, and influence. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Walker’s The Third Life of Grange Copeland are striking debut novels about black family life and the encroachment of whiteness written by two notable authors and both published in 1970. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs wrote two of the most widely read slave narratives, and their two experiences underscore the stark differences of enslavement based on gender. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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2016 was a remarkable year for Black literary imagination, with The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates generating widespread attention. #BlackLit #BlackLitPairings

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Langston Hughes remains the larger-than-life face and artist of the Harlem Renaissance, and some of his most popular and influential poems are collected in Vintage Hughes.
#BlackWriters #BlackLiterature

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Nikky Finney’s Head Off & Split is a dynamic collection that engages black figures and events, and it received the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011. #Blackwomenwriters #BlackLiterature

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Leadbelly by Tyehimba Jess blends poetry, blues history, and Black cultural memory to reimagine the life and legend of musician Huddie Ledbetter. #Blackwriters #BlackLiterature

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Brian Lanker’s I Dream a World portrait collection celebrates prominent black women figures such as Cicely Tyson and Sonia Sanchez who overcame grave adversities to become the luminaries we now know. #Blackwomenwriters #BlackLiterature

[Angad Kaur @AngadKaurKhalsa]

One of my very favourite books ever!!

[🏍️ @sonnyspectra]

the yellow cover has always been such a favourite of mine for soooo long & i’ve been trying to get the copy with THAT EXACT COVER and i won’t give up!

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Toni Morrison’s time as editor at Random House Publishing brought us the seminal work, The Black Book, and we have Middleton A. Harris and other collaborators to thank for gathering the collection’s snapshots of black life. #Blackwomenwriters #BlackLiterature

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Deborah Willis’s curated collections of photography books remind us how images shape, and reshape, our understanding of Black life across time. #Blackwriters #BlackLiterature

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A sampling of The Color Purple covers that move from the character Celie’s physical space to images of her to sisterhood and feminine connection. #Blackwomenwriters #BlackLiterature

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A sampling of covers of Toni Morrison’s Sula imagining the title character and key themes of Medallion. #Blackwomenwriters #BlackLiterature

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A sampling of cover art for Black Boy by Richard Wright across decades, showing how a landmark autobiography continues to reach new audiences during the 1940s, the 1960s, and 1980s.  #Blackwriters #BlackLiterature

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A brief take on the extraordinary literary achievements of Black men writers from1995 to 2024.
https://t.co/kjavXUhr3X #Blackmenwriters