"Finding information about African American writers has always entailed searching a variety of resources ... the benefit of having information on so many authors in one place cannot be overstated. Recommended for high school, public, and academic libraries."
-Booklist
"Hatch ... and Strickland ... are to be commended; no other single work seeks to include all past and present African American writers of significance in such an affordable format ... The comprehensiveness of the work, its affordability, and the promise of future updates make this an appealing choice for all public and academic libraries."
-Library Journal
"While novelists, poets, and playwrights do figure prominently, the intention is to include influential writers from all walks of life ... This inclusiveness sets this guide apart from many others available ... The result is a handy new tool which will serve a wide audience in school, public, and academic libraries."
-Lawrence Looks at Books

Encyclopedia of African-American Writing
Five Centuries of Contribution: Writers, Poets, Publications, Trials & Triumphs Through American History

Table of Contents

Sample Pages

Full Text Reviews

Pub. Date: October 2009
Hardcover: 800 pages
ISBN: 1-59237-291-0/978-1-59237-291-1
Price: $165.00
EBook ISBN: 978-1-59237-302-4 EBook Vendors

A timely survey of an important sector of American letters, The Encyclopedia of African-American Writing covers the role and influence of African American cultural leaders, from all walks of life, from the 18th century to the present. Readers will explore what inspired various African-American writers to create poems, plays, short stories, novels, essays, opinion pieces and numerous other works, and how those writings contributed to culture in America today.

• Updated through the present time, with 200 new entries, over 35% larger than the previous edition
  
  
• Over 100 new Author biographies, for a total of 500, with illustrations, cover the important events in a writer’s life, education, major works, honors and awards, and family and important associates
  
  
• More Genre Tables, covering newspapers, journals, book publishers, online resources, illustrators and more, each with an introduction and listings of top authors in each genre, their pen names, key publications and awards
  
  
• New Topical entries, including writing collaboratives, book clubs, celebrity authors and self-publishing
  
• New Author Tables, covering additional authors in multiple genres, with author name, pen name, birth year, genre and more
  
  
• Appendix of Writers by Genre
  
  
• Chronology of Writers
  
  
• Chronology of Firsts, with interesting facts, from the first narrative written by an African-American slave, to the first African-American to receive the Nobel prize for literature
  
  
• A list of Abbreviations & Cumulative Index
  
  
• Available in print and ebook formats

Pub. Date: October 2009
Hardcover: 800 pages
ISBN: 1-59237-291-0/978-1-59237-291-1
Price: $165.00
EBook ISBN: 978-1-59237-302-4 EBook Vendors

Note: If you find this work does not fit your budget, please print out this page and bring it to your local library. There is a reasonable chance they either have a copy, can direct you to a library that does, or will be willing to purchase it for their reference collection.