Tag Archives: Toni Morrison

Passing On: Amiri Baraka, Suzan-Lori Parks, Claudia Rankine

Posted on January 22, 2014 by wcd2

January 22, 2014 James Baldwin probably felt a tinge of jealousy at the sight of Amiri Baraka, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison at his funeral. Thousands of people there, and those three in particular, so eloquent in their tribute, but … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, collaboration, contemporary poetry, jazz, Music, Theater | Tagged Amiri Baraka, Claudia Rankine, Danny Glover, Diane Paulus, Diedre Murray, Dodge Poetry Fest, James Baldwin, Jesse Jackson, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Martin Espada, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, Stephen Sondheim, Suzan-Lori Parks, Toni Medina, Toni Morrison, Tony Hoagland | Leave a comment

Writers getting old: Ashbery, Angelou, Morrison

Posted on November 13, 2013 by wcd2

November 13, 2013 I was standing at the very back, and saw only a wall of people in front. I’d also missed the introduction. For most of reading, all I got was the voice, surprisingly strong, vigorous, the voice … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Contemporary novel, contemporary poetry, Friendship, Libraries, Literary awards | Tagged Beinecke Library, Furious Flower LIfetime Achievement Awards, John Ashbery, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Toni Morrison | Leave a comment

James Baldwin’s friends

Posted on July 31, 2013 by wcd2

July 31, 2013 Well, at least they went to high school together, that accounts for it: DeWitt Clinton High School, in the north Bronx. By the time James Baldwin and Richard Avedon brought out Nothing Personal (1964), they’d known … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Educational institutions, Photography | Tagged a Rap on Race, Bronx, DrWitt Clinton High School, Huey Newton, Istanbul, James Baldwin, John Wayne, Magpie Tower, Margaret Mead, Maya Angelou, New York Times, Nina Simone, Paris, Richard Avedon, Sol Stein, Toni Morrison | Leave a comment

Children’s literature as World Literature

Posted on July 10, 2013 by wcd2

July 10, 2013 Is there a special connection between children’s literature and world literature? I’ve always wondered about this. Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, and Toni Morrison are just individual examples, and maybe they’re all flukes. Still, there they are: … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, ancient Greece, Children's literature, Educational institutions, world literature | Tagged Aesop's Fables, Bonnie Tulloch, First Book of Africa, Gertrude Stein, Herman Melville, Institute for World Literature, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Little Man, Old Greek Stories, Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children, Slade Morrison, the Sampo, The World is Round, Toni Morrison | Leave a comment

Toni Morrison, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Silko: The Chinese Connection

Posted on February 6, 2013 by wcd2

February 6, 2012 In 1985 Toni Morrison, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Leslie Silko traveled together to China, going up the Li River in a boat. Kingston and Silko have now come out with new books — Kingston, I Love a … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Afro-Asian alliances, Animals, Asia, Autobiography, China, Chinese art, collaboration, Comparative literature, Ethnicity, Native American language, Native-American literature, Twentieth century literature, Visual arts, world literature | Tagged 92nd Street Y, Chaco Canyon, China, I Love a Broad Margin to my Life, Leslie Silko, Li River, Maxine Hong Kingston, Mesa Verde, The Turquoise Ledge, Toni Morrison, Tucson | Leave a comment

Jane Austen’s Philadelphia, Toni Morrison’s Denver

Posted on January 30, 2013 by wcd2

January 30, 2013 2013 is the bicentennial of Pride and Prejudice, so I’ve been learning new things about Jane Austen — for instance, the fact that her aunt was named Philadelphia, Phila for short. Phila never saw Philadelphia; no, at … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Cities, Classics, collaboration, Contemporary novel, Ethnicity, Race, slavery, Twentieth century literature, Vernacular dialects | Tagged Beloved, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, East India Company, Jane Austen, Paula Byrne, Philadelphia Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Toni Morrison, Tysoe Saul Hancock | Leave a comment

Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison: More Children’s Books

Posted on September 12, 2012 by wcd2

September 12, 2012 Toni Morrison also had trouble with publishers. At least she managed to get it in print — The Big Box, the first of several coauthored with her son Slade, first appeared in Ms. Magazine in 1980 and, … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Children's literature, collaboration, Contemporary novel, Educational institutions, Genre, literary magazaines, Newspapers, print medium, Publishers, Race, Twentieth century literature | Tagged alphabet books, Amazon, Centuries of Childhood, Gertrude Stein, Giselle Potter, Hyperion Books, Jethro Tull, Ms. Magazine, New York Times, Philippe Aries, Slade Morrison, Spice Girls, The Big Box, To Do, Toni Morrison | 1 Comment

Gore Vidal (1925-2012): 2006 Letter on the Palestinian nation.

Posted on August 1, 2012 by wcd2

August 1, 2012 Gore Vidal’s passing is marked worldwide by a citational frenzy: all those quips, those acidic one-liners, from the past 86 years. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, all have their favorites; the Guardian … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Afro-Asian alliances, Arabic, collaboration, Comparative literature, Ethnicity, globe, Islam, Letters, Middle East, Newspapers, Nobel Prize, peripheral networks, print medium, Racial violence, Twentieth century literature, World religions | Tagged 2006 Letter from 18 Authors on the Palestinian Nation, Arundhati Roy, Gaza, Gore Vidal, Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jessica Hagedorn, LA Times, New York Times, the Nation magazine, Toni Morrison, Washington Post, West Bank | 7 Comments

All Saints Bookstore, Beijing

Posted on June 13, 2012 by wcd2

June 13, 2012 We were in Hong Kong on June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. A candlelight vigil had been held in Victoria Park for the past 23 years. This year, 180,000 people showed up. There … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Boostores, China, Cities, collaboration, Comparative literature, Contemporary novel, Diaspora, Dissidents, Educational institutions, literary magazaines, macro politics, Media, Nobel Prize, print medium, public universities, Publishers, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Universities, world literature | Tagged All Saints Bookstore, Beijing, Beloved, candlelight vigil, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, Hong Kong, Liu Suli, Liu Zaiobo, Mark Twain, Nobel Prize, Peking University, Richard Powers, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Steve Jobs, Strand, The Echo Maker, The Road, Thinkers Cafe, Tiananmen Square crackdown, Toni Morrison, Tsinghua University, Wansheng Bookstore, World Literature Institute, Zhao Baisheng, Zora Neale Hurston | 9 Comments

African-Native-American: Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison

Posted on February 15, 2012 by wcd2

February 15, 2012 Langston Hughes. African-American, of course. Yet a not insignificant fact about his biography is that his both his maternal grandparents, Mary Patterson and Charles Henry Langston, were of mixed races: African-American, Native American, and European. Hughes did … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, contemporary poetry, mixed races, Native-American literature, slavery, Twentieth century literature | Tagged A Mercy, African American history, Ardelia Wilis, Charles Henry Hughes, John Solomon Willis, Langston Hughes, Mary Patterson Hughes, Native American history, Simon Ortiz, Song of Solomon, Tiya Miles, Toni Morrison | 65 Comments