[ By: Meleah Perez ] Melvin Van Peebles passed away Sept. 21, 2021, at the age of 89, but his legacy lives on in the Project on the History of Black Writing database. Many in the cinema industry regard him as a pioneer, a trailblazer, a giant, but before Van Peebles was the godfather of Black cinema, he was Van Peebles, the writer. Like many […]
[ By Ashley Simmons ] Since the beginning of her career, Louise Meriwether demonstrated that writers have a responsibility to something outside of themselves and their writing. Meriwether made it her personal mission to write about the Black experience both as she saw it growing up and also as a way to remind American people of the impact Black people have had on the history […]
[ By: Christopher Peace ] The Project on the History of Black Writing staff member, Christopher Peace, recently attended the 2021 ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities as a third time graduate intern. Due to COVID-19, the festival was different from past years, taking on a hybrid zoom and socially distanced format. Peace recaps his experience with the festival this year, noting the differences […]
[ By: Morgan McComb ] Last fall, during HBW’s 2020 Black Literary Suite “Black Writing in Reel Time,” we received the news from Julia Wright, regarding the forthcoming publication of unpublished novel by her father Richard Wright (1908-1960). A portion of that novel had first appeared in 1942, but most readers first learned of it in Wright’s short story collection, “Eight Men” (1960). We are […]
[By: Kai Hansen] Hello everyone, and happy New Year! I hope you’re all well and have had a good holiday season. There’s a certain chill in the air that seems to make the world around us slow down a bit, which makes this the perfect time of year to relax and curl up with a good book. Whether you’re a college student searching for something […]