Tag: LGBT

Uncategorized

LGBT History Month: Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin

[by Meredith Wiggins] In honor of LGBT History Month, the HBW Blog is featuring posts on foundational queer texts by African American authors.  Today, we discuss James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room (1956).   After the triumphant publication of his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, in 1953, James Baldwin found himself facing a new dilemma in his still-young life as a writer.  “I realized […]

Uncategorized

LGBT History Month: Ann Allen Shockley’s Loving Her, 40 Years Later

[by Meredith Wiggins] In honor of LGBT History Month, the HBW Blog will be featuring a series of posts on foundational queer texts by African American authors. First up: Ann Allen Shockley’s Loving Her (1974). From Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929) to Toni Morrison’s Sula (1973), the history of African American literature is rich with work that covertly addresses themes of lesbian desire.  These readings are […]