"In The Empire Abroad and the Empire at Home, John Cullen Gruesser establishes that African American writers at the turn of the twentieth century responded extensively and idiosyncratically to overseas expansion and its implications for domestic race relations. He contends that the work of these writers significantly informs not only African American literary studies but also U.S. political history. Focusing on authors who explicitly connect the empire...

In I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like, Rebecca Carroll skillfully interviews fifteen black women writers. Carroll includes both major, established writers such as Gloria Naylor, Rita Dove, and Nikki Giovanni, and newer, emerging writers like Tina McElroy Ansa and Lorene Cary. With eloquence, candor, and a strong sense of sisterhood, these women tell their stories. Each interview is accompanied by an excerpt from the author's work, introducing readers...

"African American literature is over. With this provocative claim Kenneth Warren sets out to identify a distinctly African American literature - and to change the terms with which we discuss it. Rather than contest other definitions, Warren makes a clear and compelling case for understanding African American literature as creative and critical work written by black Americans within and against the strictures of Jim Crow America. Within these parameters,...